


Run To You

by cherryrosetart



Category: Rooster Teeth/Achievement Hunter RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Cheating, F/M, Implied Sexual Content, Implied/Referenced Cheating, M/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-26
Updated: 2014-10-10
Packaged: 2018-02-14 17:46:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 39,249
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2200908
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cherryrosetart/pseuds/cherryrosetart
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Based on the idea of the Bryan Adams song, "Run to You," Michael and Gavin had a relationship from high school through early college, but after years of not being together, and being involved in other relationships, they realize they still want to be together, despite hurting those they love.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first chapter fic, and the bits in italic are the past, and the regular font is the present.

_Michael and Gavin had dated for a little over four years. They met when a friend of theirs dared Michael to kiss the new guy in school. It was at the beginning of their junior year, and Gavin had just moved from England to Austin. Michael was notorious for hitting on all the guys (and girls) at school no matter how much shit he got for it. He didn’t care what other people thought of him, and though he’d had his share of bullying and other bullshit, he never let it bother him._

_It was Gavin’s first day of school, and Michael’s friend Ray dared him to just walk up to the new guy and kiss him. From the look of him, the new guy didn’t seem like he could do much to hurt Michael, especially if he didn’t like it, but either way Michael was up for the challenge. Beside, the new guy was pretty cute._

_“Okay, there he is. Remember, you gotta kiss him good, not some wimpy kiss,” Ray reminded._

_“Dude, like I ever give wimpy kisses. Stay here, I’ll be right back.” Michael sprinted off in the direction of the new guy, and walked up to him. From Ray’s point of view it looked as if they were talking first, then Michael planted a kiss, said something, and ran off. From Michael’s point of view, he walked up to the young man and grinned._

_“Hey, I’m gonna kiss you right now,” Michael said, and with that, his lips were crushing the new boy’s lips, and Gavin’s eyes widened, but didn’t pull away. If anything, he was just shocked. Michael pulled away from the kiss and smiled. “Welcome to Austin.” Michael ran back over to Ray and they both headed to class._  
______________________________________________________________________________

At the office, the group known as Achievement Hunter was working on yet another video of them playing GTA V. Geoff, the head of the group, and designated group dad was telling them what the challenge for the game was for the day. Jack was out of the office, so Lindsay, Michael’s wife was joining the boys for the day’s activities.

“I’m so gonna kick your asses, guys,” Lindsay promised.

“You wish,” Ryan said. 

“Yeah, if anything, Ray’s gonna be doing all the ass kicking,” Michael acknowledged. “Gavin won’t though. If anything, he’ll just fuck shit up.” Michael laughed loudly and obnoxiously ensuring a laugh from the rest of the group.

The game went on, and there was much laughing, plenty of name calling, stupid noises, bad singing, mean words, challenges, and many other hilarious antics. 

At the end of the workday, everybody parted ways, and the Joneses headed home, but not before Michael invited Gavin and his girlfriend, Meg over for drinks, and fun. It had become somewhat of a routine with the group, hanging out after work, and spending time together. It was almost like old times for Michael and Gavin, but not quite as they both had completely different lives.  
______________________________________________________________________________

_After their first kiss, Gavin couldn’t seem to get the boy out of his mind. He certainly hadn’t expected it, let alone enjoy it, considering he never really thought about guys like that before. Was it a joke, he wondered, hoping he could ask the boy during lunch break why he had kissed him._

_Lunchtime came and he searched the cafeteria for any sign of the boy, and saw him with a group of people laughing and eating. He drew up courage and made his way over to their table, but stopped just before approaching. Miles, one of the boys sitting at the table noticed him staring at them, and stood up._

_“Hey… you okay? You look lost,” Miles mentioned, giving the new guy a smile. His girlfriend, Arryn looked to see whom he was talking to, which caused everyone else to turn around. Michael spotted him and Ray nudged Michael in the ribs._

_“Yeah, I…I j…j…just…” Gavin stuttered._

_“Hey! It’s the new guy,” Michael spurted. He jumped away from the table and walked over to the young man. “Wanna hang out with us? Like Miles said, you look lost.” He chuckled, guiding the boy to the table. “Guys, this is…” He turned to Gavin. “What’s your name?”_

_“G… G… Gavin. I’m Gavin,” Gavin said, as the friends got up one by one to greet him._

_“Hey Gavin, I’m Ray,” Ray stated._

_“Hi, Gavin, I’m Barbara. I’m the coolest one in the group,” Barbara announced, getting a laugh from everyone else._

_“I’m Miles, and this is my girlfriend, Arryn,” Miles commented._

_“Hi! Welcome. How are you liking Austin so far?” Arryn chimed in._

_“It’s nice. It’s different from England, but nice,” Gavin answered._

_“Oh cool. What’s England like?” Kerry asked. “Oh, by the way, I’m Kerry,” he said with a smile._

_All these people being nice to him helped ease him, and he relaxed. “It’s nice to meet you all,” Gavin waved, smiling awkwardly. “And England is beautiful. A little dreary, but beautiful.” He then turned his attention to Michael. “What’s your name?”_

_“Oh, I’m Michael. Like I said to you this morning, ‘welcome to Austin.’” Michael grinned, and Gavin truly felt welcomed._  
______________________________________________________________________________

The Joneses along with Gavin and Meg had a great time together, going to dinner, having drinks, playing video games, to which Michael naturally kicked ass due to his competitive nature, and generally having a blast.

Michael grabbed Gavin by the scuff of his shirt and dragged him into the bedroom to help him find a game he had put away. “You look in there, I’ll look in here,” Michael commanded.

“What are we looking for?” Gavin asked.

“That stupid game I told you about. I wanted us to play it since it requires four players,” Michael said, throwing things on the bed as he searched the nightstand drawers. “But I can’t remember where I put it.” He stopped for a minute and stared at Gavin’s ass while the Brit was bent over searching the bottom drawer of the dresser. He licked his lips remembering all the good times they’d had in their past.

Gavin turned around and caught Michael staring. “Like what you see?”

“I never stopped liking,” Michael commented, grinning. “But you left and well…”

“Yeah, but you’ve got Lindsay now, you don’t need me.”

“Yeah, and you got Meg…” There was a pause as they gazed at each other, longing for the days when they were together. “But that was a long time ago, right?”

“Right…”

They boys returned to their ladies after finally finding the game and Michael proceeded to kick ass.


	2. Chapter 2

_After school, the group of friends headed to the local mall and showed Gavin around town. Miles had a car, so they all packed in rather tightly into the backseat. Arryn sat in front, Ray on the left with Kerry on his lap, Michael to the right with Barbara on his lap, and Gavin crammed in the middle. They all got out of the car and headed right for the food court._

_“Okay Gav, what’re you hungry for?” Michael asked, pointing to all the possible fast food places they could hit._

_“Oh, I’ve got money…” Gavin said, pulling his wallet from his bag._

_“Hey, no worries, man. I’ll get you,” Michael said._

_“I’d let him, if I were you,” Ray whispered loudly, enough for Michael to hear. “He doesn’t do this unless he likes you, which means I’m shit outta luck.” Ray laugh to himself, and headed to his favorite fast food place. The rest of the group did the same, each going after what they liked most._

_“Uh, well, how about that Chinese place,” Gavin pointed to the place with giant panda on the sign. “I’ve heard good things about them.”_

_“Sounds good.” Both boys got their food and the group sat around and ate._

_Picking at his orange chicken, Michael picked up a piece and stuffed it in his mouth. “So why are you in Austin?” Michael asked with his mouth full._

_“You’re so gross, Michael Jones,” Barbara sneered throwing a pepperoni at the dumbass._

_“What do you expect? The boy’s got no manners,” Ray spewed also with a mouth full of food. Barbara threw another pepperoni at Ray and everyone laughed._

_“Actually, I’m here staying with a wonderful family as an exchange student. They had the extra room, and offered their place, so I moved out here so I could eventually work out here,” Gavin said, and then placed a bite of food into his mouth._

_“Work? What do you wanna do for work?” Kerry asked politely._

_“The video game industry, and video work,” Gavin answered once his mouth was empty._

_“What, really? Like, you play?” Michael asked, taking a sip of his drink._

_“Well, yeah, but I’m not very good,” Gavin confessed._

_“I could teach you,” Michael insisted._

_“Yeah and there’ll probably be a make out session too,” Ray added._

_Michael wiggled his eyebrows suggestively and Gavin blushed. “That could be fun,” Michael agreed._

_“He doesn’t even hide it anymore. You are such a player, Michael,” Barbara pointed out._

_“Maybe, but I’m a good kisser… right, Gav?” Michael asked impishly. Gavin’s face reddened even more._

_The gang’s eyes all widened. “What?!” Miles shrieked._

_“When did you guys kiss? I thought you were new,” Arryn spurted._

_“I am…” Gavin wasn’t sure how to answer that. He had meant to ask Michael why he kissed him in the first place, but it seemed to slip his mind._

_“I dared him to do it. I saw the new guy walking and dared Michael to kiss him,” Ray admitted._

_“It might have started as a dare, but it was really…” Michael brought his lips to Gavin’s ear. “Delicious.” He licked his lips, and Gavin’s whole body flushed. Gavin felt his heart pounding rapidly in his chest and his breathing quickened._

_“You all right there, Gav?” Michael asked with a smirk. All Gavin could do was nod his head._  
______________________________________________________________________________

The next day at work, Michael and Gavin did an episode of their fairly new series, Play Pals, playing a game a fan had suggested. While they played, Michael paused the recording and paused the game, which he’d edit out later. “Gavin…” Michael started. “Do you ever think about high school?”

“Yeah, sometimes. Why?” Gavin asked.

“I was just thinking about last night, and- I was thinking about how things used to be with us,” Michael muttered.

“Michael, that was so long ago. We’re both different now. Things are different now. You’re married, and I’ve got a girlfriend,” Gavin reminded.

“Yeah, I know. But- I mean when we both started working here, and we saw each other again after all those years… don’t tell me you didn’t feel _something_ when you saw me again.”

“Of course I did, Michael. Just because I left didn’t mean I didn’t still have feelings for you. But we both agreed that when I left we’d both move on. It’s not as if we didn’t keep in touch. Though, I will admit when you told me you were dating Lindsay, I got really jealous.”

“That’s good to know. I didn’t know if I’d ever see you again, and she-” Michael paused for a moment. “She helped me get over you, or so I thought. But when you started working here, I- Well, it doesn’t matter now, does it?” Michael grumbled, and un-paused the game, and acted as if nothing had changed.

After about ten minutes more into the game, Gavin paused everything. “Hold on. What are you saying, Michael?”

“What are you talking about?” Michael asked playing dumb.

“Don’t play coy with me. I’ve known you too long for you to play the idiot,” Gavin protested.

“What do you want me to say, Gav? That I’m still in love with you? That all I want is to be with you again? To feel you inside me-” Michael stopped his words and threw down the controller. “I can’t do this right now.” However, before he could exit, Gavin jumped up and stopped him. “Move, Gavin.”

“No! You don’t just get to walk away from me,” Gavin nearly shouted.

“Oh, you mean the way you walked away from me?” Michael retorted.

“That’s not fair. You know why I left.”

“Then why are we even talking about this?” Michael yelled.

“I don’t know. You brought it up in the first place.”

“Then just fucking drop it already!”

“You are such a- mungy prick!!”

“And you’re a fucking asshole!!” 

Both men were screaming at each other rather loudly, those who had stayed after work hours heard pretty much everything. Miles and Kerry were two that had definitely heard everything. 

Miles sighed. “I knew this would eventually happen with them both working here,” he told Kerry. “They never got over each other.”

“Yeah, obviously… Man, this sucks. What do you think will happen?” Kerry asked curiously.

“Don’t know, but I’m worried one of them might quit.”

“I hope not.”

Back behind closed door, the two former lovers were still going at it. “Why the fuck won’t you let me leave?!” Michael screamed.

“Because we need to deal with this now. Obviously there is something you want to say to me, so just bloody say it!”

“I just want to get the fuck outta here, and away from you.” Michael’s voice suddenly dropped, and he glared hard at Gavin.

“You wanna go? FINE! Leave. Do whatever you want; I don’t care what you do!” Gavin shouted, and moved out of Michael’s way, even offering a bow as he pointed to the door. “Go!”

Michael didn’t move for a moment, only stood there and glared daggers at his friend. Michael knew deep down he really didn’t want to leave, but how would he convey that without giving in to Gavin. So instead, he decided to ‘stand his ground.’

“We have to finish this fucking video first,” Michael said, voice no longer dripping with venom, but still had a tinge of anger behind it.

Gavin shook his head, still irritated. “You… you’re bloody mad, you know that?”

Michael stared into Gavin’s eyes, trying to read him, not wanting to respond with words. Michael’s eyes dropped down to Gavin’s lips, and without another thought, pushed the Brit against the door, and kissed him suddenly, mirroring the first time he kissed him. However, instead of Gavin standing there dumbfounded, he kissed him back. There hands touching each other rediscovering the feel of the other’s body.   
______________________________________________________________________________

_Gavin ended up going home with Michael after their trip to the mall and both boys went up to his room. Gavin’s eyes widened at all the games Michael had stacked up from the floor to the height of his bed. There were three towers of games, and several different game consoles including some older ones. “Wow! You really like video games, don’t you?”_

_“Eh, yeah. I mean, my dad just buys me one every time he misses something important in my life, or is running late, or- That doesn’t matter. Pick one and we’ll play.” Michael said._

_Gavin searched through all his games, only really recognizing a handful. Others he had never heard of before, or had never even thought about playing. “How about this one?”_

_“Put it in and grab a controller,” Michael said, and grabbed the first player controller sitting by his bed._

_They boys played games until all hours of the night. Michael’s dad always worked late, and he practically had to take care of himself. Michael made them some dinner, and at some point, Gavin called his host parents and let them know what was going on, and that he was staying late._

_“Don’t be too late, bud. You’ve still got school tomorrow,” Geoff, Gavin’s host dad said._

_“Don’t worry, Geoff. I’ll make it to school tomorrow. Can I just stay here tonight?” Gavin asked._

_“What do your friend’s parents say?” Geoff asked._

_“His name is Michael, and his dad works late so he says he doesn’t care if I stay.”_

_“Well… tell you what. I’ll bring by your stuff so I can meet your friend, and that way you don’t have to worry about coming home before heading off to school tomorrow. Is there anything in particular you want me to bring?” Geoff asked._

_“Yeah, um, my toothbrush, and some clothes for tomorrow,” Gavin mentioned._

_“Sure thing, buddy. I’ll see you in a little bit. I just need his address.”_

_Gavin gave him Michael’s address, and hung up. “He’ll be here soon.”_

_Michael nodded, and then scooted closer to Gavin. “I have an idea of what we could do while we wait.”_

_Gavin suddenly became nervous and swallowed hard. “Oh yeah? Like what?”_

_“Don’t play dumb with me. You knew this was a possibility. You’re not scared, are you?”_

_“No,” Gavin said as confidently as possible, which sounded more like a whimper. “It’s just…”_

_“You’ve never really made out with a guy before, but it’s something you totally wanna try?” Michael grinned._

_Gavin gulped again. “Well… yeah. I mean, I’ve never, not that…”_

_“Are you afraid you might not like it? Or are you afraid you will?”_

_Gavin wasn’t sure how to answer._

_“Why don’t you try it, and see what happens? If you don’t wanna keep going, I’ll stop and never bring it up again. But if you like it, we’ll keep going.”_

_Gavin nodded, but he was still very nervous. Michael leaned over and just as his lips met Gavin’s, Gavin’s phone rang. “Sorry, I’ve gotta get this. Hello? Hey Geoff. Yeah. It doesn’t matter which shirt, just long as it’s clean. No, jeans are fine. Yeah. Okay, I’ll see you when you get here.” Gavin put his phone back in his pocket, somewhat grateful for the distraction, but that didn’t last long._

_Michael leaned in once again and Gavin closed his eyes. Their lips met, and Gavin jumped at the feel, but relaxed a little as Michael started to kiss him. It took him a moment to kiss back, but only after he started to feel more comfortable. Michael took that as a sign to run his fingers through the Brit’s hair, deepening the kiss. Gavin was startled briefly at the presence of Michael’s tongue, but liked the way it felt, and tried to match him._

_They kissed for what felt like almost an hour when they heard the doorbell ring. Michael pulled away disappointed. Gavin was still reeling over how amazing the kissing had been. “I think your host dad is here,” Michael told him._

_“Oh, right. We should go get that.”_

_The boys went downstairs to greet Geoff at the door. “Hey Geoff,” Gavin said as he opened the door._

_Geoff stepped inside and glanced around before handing Gavin his bag. “Nice place you got here,” he told Michael._

_“Thanks. My dad’s got a good job, and it’s just the two of us so… yeah.”_

_“I’m Geoff Ramsey, Gavin’s friend and host dad. And you must be Michael. It’s nice to meet you,” he said extending a hand._

_Michael shook his hand. “Nice to meet you too.”_

_“Okay Gav, you behave yourself, and don’t cause any trouble,” Geoff commanded and Gavin nodded._

_“No worries, Geoff. I’ll keep him outta trouble,” Michael stated giving Gavin a wink._

_“Well, I’ll see you boys later,” Geoff said. “You sure your dad doesn’t mind he stay?”_

_“Yeah, it’s totally cool. I already asked. If you wanna talk to him, I can call him for you and you can ask him yourself.”_

_“Nah, I believe you. Okay boys, have fun.” Geoff gave Gavin a hug and left._

_“He seems pretty cool,” Michael noticed._

_“Yeah, he’s really top. We actually met while gaming online, and he’s been telling me about a company he works for that deals with gaming, and internet series.”_

_“Sounds pretty fucking awesome. What’s it called?” Michael asked._

_“Rooster Teeth.”_

_“No fucking way! He works at Rooster Teeth? That’s awesome!” Michael had apparently heard of this place._

_“Yeah, it is. Did you know he’s one of the voices on RvB?” Gavin mentioned._

_“No shit? I thought his voice sounded familiar. Dude, that’s awesome!”_

_“Yeah, I guess it is.”_  
______________________________________________________________________________

The following workday saw everybody in the office. Everything seemed to run smoothly, and no one was the wiser to what happened the night before. Well, that wasn’t entirely true. There were four individuals who knew, or at least had a feeling about what had happened during the late hours. Two of them sat in the Achievement Hunter office, while two of them sat at in another part of the building writing and animating. 

The two in the AH office sat next to each other working on separate things, occasionally sharing a glance, but nothing more. Most of the time their eyes remained on their computer screens until the announcement that it was time to participate in a “Go.” 

Lindsay, Kdin and Caleb filmed while Geoff explained what their task was, and the other five guys scrambled to accomplish that task. Much like all their other videos, Michael would say something funny, Gavin would make some silly crazy noise, Ryan would make a comment that would make the others question whether he was truly ‘mad’ or not, Ray regretted his “YOLO” commented, and covered it up with a shout out, and Jack--the only seemingly normal one--laughed. Geoff just shook his head wondering what he had gotten himself into with this group of people. Once the competition was over, Ryan surprised everyone by winning, and added a sticker to the board signifying his victory. Filming ended, and the group went back to work.

Lunchtime rolled around, and Miles was waiting outside for Michael when he came out of the office with Lindsay. “Hey, man. Can I talk to you for a minute?”

“Sure. Hey, I’ll be right back,” Michael said, and gave Lindsay a quick kiss. He followed Miles to another part of the building, then outside. “Hey Miles, what’s up?”

“Listen…” Miles glanced around to make sure nobody else was around. “You were here pretty late last night, right?”

“Fuck. You heard me and Gavin fighting didn’t you?” Michael asked.

“Yeah… but that’s not all we heard.”

Michael’s eyes widened. “We? Who else was here-?”

“Just Kerry and me. Don’t worry, we haven’t said anything to anybody about it,” Miles assured.

“Fuck. What else did you hear?”

“Do you really want me to say it?” Miles questioned.

“Fuck! Dude, you can’t say anything. To anybody!” Michael exclaimed, now worrying on his bottom lip. “Shit, shit, shit! Lindsay can’t find out about this.”

“Whoa, Michael, calm down. I won’t say anything, and neither will Kerry. We know- well we figured you and Gavin-”

“Gavin and I aren’t anything anymore. You know that. It just… happened. It won’t happen again. You’ve gotta promise me you won’t say anything, not even to Gavin,” Michael pled, grabbing Miles by the shoulders and give him a shake. “Please!”

“Hey, Michael, chill. I won’t say anything. But Kerry’s talking to Gavin right now,” Miles mentioned. 

“FUCK!” Michael stormed off, and Miles ran after him.

“Michael, wait,” Miles called out, turning the angry man around. “You need to calm down.”

“How the fuck am I supposed to calm down?” Michael screamed, pulling his own hair.

“‘Cause if you don’t, Lindsay will notice something’s wrong,” Miles affirmed. 

Michael paced back and forth, running his hands through his hair, and rubbing his face. “Shit. Lindsay cannot find out about this.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Minor trigger warnings for homophobia and a couple slurs

_A week went by, and Michael and Gavin had begun dating; Well, dating in the sense that they would hang out at Michael’s or Gavin’s and spend most of their time making out in their bedrooms._

_“I’m getting hungry,” Michael announced, sitting up from the laying position he and Gavin were in. Gavin sat up too. “Let’s go make dinner.”_

_“What do you want to make?” Gavin asked, leaning his head on Michael‘s shoulder._

_“What are you in the mood for?”_

_“Pizza, but not ordered.”_

_“Ooh. I know just what to do.” Michael hopped up off the bed, and grabbed Gavin pulling him up. They both ran down the stairs, and into the kitchen. Michael grabbed some pull-apart biscuits in a can, and popped it open. He laid them out on a cookie sheet, and both boys smashed them until they were flatter, and wider. “Perfect.”_

_He grabbed a jar of spaghetti sauce from his pantry, and opened it. The contents spilled a little bit and landed on his boyfriend. Gavin squeaked. “You’re making a mess,” he said, as he wiped the few splatters from his arm onto Michael’s face._

_“Oh, we’re gonna play this shit, huh?” Michael dipped his finger into the jar spreading its contents across Gavin’s face and nose, eliciting another squeak from the Brit. What started as a simple moment escalated into an all out war with spaghetti sauce eventually ending up all over the walls, as well as all over the boys. “So much for pizza,” Michael noted, laughing as he looked around at the mess they’d have to clean up._

_“Do you have any more sauce?” Gavin asked._

_“Probably. Look in the pantry, and I’ll get the rest of the ingredients from the fridge,” Michael nudged. As Gavin brought over another jar, Michael leaned over and kissed him, spreading what mess they already had on their faces even more._

_Michael jumped when he heard the sound of someone clearing their throat. “What the hell is this?” he heard, and noticed his dad was home._

_“Dad. What’re you doing here? I thought you were working late tonight (like you always do),” Michael said, the last part muttered under his breath._

_“What the hell is going on here? You clean up this shit right now,” Michael’s dad bellowed, then set his eyes on Gavin. “Who the fuck is this?”_

_“He’s um…” Michael swallowed hard. He didn’t know if he should tell his dad the truth because frankly he had no idea how he’d react to this sort of news. “He’s…”_

_“Spit it out,” Mr. Jones spat. “Who is he?”_

_Gavin was admittedly frightened of Michael’s father. He wasn’t sure if the man was going to hit him or just keep yelling._

_“He’s just a friend, dad,” Michael spat back standing up to his father, though there was fear on his face. The look on Mr. Jones face could cut glass, and Michael seemed to shrink a little._

_“Just a friend, huh? Just a friend…” Mr. Jones paced the floor for a moment then faced the boys once again. “So you kiss all your fucking friends?”_

_Gavin fell backwards simply out of fear, and it caught Mr. Jones attention. “So, you make my boy a fa-”_

_Michael forced his way right to his dad’s face. “Don’t fucking call him that!” He stood directly in front of Gavin, unsure of what his dad might do, but he wasn’t about to let him hurt Gavin no matter what. “Gav, go upstairs and just wait in my room.”_

_Gavin didn’t hesitate and ran upstairs, but he stayed close to the steps to make sure Michael didn’t get hurt. He had his phone out ready to call Geoff if things got out of hand._

_Michael’s father stepped over to his son, and glared. “Is this what you do when I’m not home? You make a fucking mess and… and… I can’t even fucking say it.”_

_“I was gonna clean it up; we were making dinner. Not like you’d even know what that is. You’re never fucking home,” Michael said, holding his ground. His father had never hit him before, but he couldn’t help but worry that it might start now. Nevertheless, he never backed down._

_Mr. Jones demeanor softened just a little. “Michael, you know I work late. You don’t think I’m trying to take care of you? Why the hell do you think I work so much? So you could-” His face scrunched up again, and he clenched his fist hitting the counter._

_“I know damn well why you work so much. You don’t wanna be around me. You never did. Ever since mom died that’s all you fucking do is work,” Michael’s voice pitched and his breathing hitched, as he bit back tears._

_“You actually think that’s why I work so much? I work to keep food on the fucking table for you, and make sure that you have a damn roof over your head. You like living here? You like all your fucking video games? How the hell do you think I can afford those? You think I can just pull money out of my ass? You think that’s how it works, Michael?” If it wasn’t obvious, Mr. Jones was furious._

_“You don’t care about me. You don’t fucking care at all. Don’t give me your bullshit about ‘providing for me’ ‘cause all you fucking care about is the money. You’re the one who likes to live like this. I couldn’t fucking care less. I wouldn’t care if we lived in a fucking box.” Michael was equally furious._

_“You wanna live in a fucking box? Then go live in a fucking box, and see how well you fend for yourself!” Mr. Jones’ fist made contact with the counter once again and Michael flinched. “You think it’s easy out there, living on your own, working, and having to take care of a fucking kid?”_

_“You never worked this much when mom was alive,” Michael’s voice was suddenly small and quiet though he was still fuming._

_Michael’s father stopped in his tracks. For a second he looked at his son and saw the small boy his wife would coddle and baby, and he softened. Then he flashed on the scene he walked in on and was taken right back to where they were. “She always babied you. She treated you like you were her whole world, and I was just… her husband.” His voice matched Michael’s in volume, but glared daggers. “You were her baby. She gave you everything… but you were nothing. You were just a leach, sucking the life out of her slowly until she couldn’t take it anymore and she got sick.”_

_This time it was Michael’s turn to fist the counter. “I knew it,” he whispered though loud enough for his father to hear. “I knew it. You fucking hate me. You wish I was dead, don’t you?” His voice grew gradually. “You wish I had died instead of her, don’t you? You’re my father, and you don’t give a_ flying fuck _about your son.” Michael had tears streaming down his face now. “This isn’t about me kissing Gavin. This is about you wanting me gone. You don’t care that I’m a_ fag, _you just don’t care about me.”_

_There was a long moment of silence between father and son, and Gavin, who was listening to everything, was crying quietly on the stairs._   
______________________________________________________________________________

Kerry grabbed Gavin as he made his way out of the AH office, and pulled him to the side. “Hey, Gav. Um, I need to talk to you about something. Wanna go grab some lunch and we can talk?”

“Yeah, how about pizza?” Gavin asked.

“Okay.” The two guys headed off to lunch in Kerry’s car, hitting up the pizza parlor, and ordering a large to share. “So Gavin, how’re things going?” Kerry started with polite conversation.

“Things are great. Couldn’t ask for anything more. How are things with you?” Gavin questioned as he took a slice and started eating. 

“Yeah, no, things are awesome. I love working at the company, and Miles and I are thrilled to be working with Monty,” Kerry said, taking a sip of his soda.

“That’s good,” Gavin nodded, still chomping away at his slice of pizza. “So, is this what you wanted to talk about?”

Kerry shook his head. “No.” He hesitated before continuing, chewing rather slowly, and then swallowed hard. “Um… you were there ‘til pretty late last night, right?”

“Yeah, Michael and I were recording a Play Pals. Were you there last night too?”

Kerry nodded. “Mmhmm. And uh, we heard you guys fighting last night, Miles and me.”

“Oh. Were we really loud? Sorry. Yeah, we really got into the game and well…” Gavin avoided the rest of the explanation by taking a bite of another slice, hoping Kerry would just leave the subject as is, but with no such luck.

“It’s more than that, Gav. We didn’t just hear you fighting; we also heard…” Kerry bit his bottom lip, not really wanting to have to _say_ what they had heard, and hoped Gavin would figure it out on his own. 

Gavin did figure it out, but for the moment, he tried to play it off. “Like I said, we really got into the game last night. It was mental.”

“Gavin, Miles and I aren’t gonna say anything, I promise. And we both know that you and Michael-”

“Michael and I are over, remember?” Gavin’s appetite seemed to fade, and he set down the slice of pizza he’d been holding. 

“Yeah, I know, but…”

“Have you said anything to Michael about this yet?” Gavin inquired.

“Miles is talking to him,” Kerry stated staring down at the pizza to avoid eye contact with Gavin.

“Could we not talk about this? It’s complicated,” Gavin replied expecting and hoping Kerry would just drop it.

“I just wanted to tell you that we’ve always been on yours and Michael’s side, and that if you guys-” Kerry was cut off immediately.

“Please don’t talk about this anymore. Let’s just try to finish our lunch,” Gavin requested, though he just wasn’t hungry anymore. He thought about the previous night, and how he and Michael were in the office sweaty, pleading, desperate, wanting, and loving. He shook his head to push away the images. “Kerry,” Gavin started. “You can’t say anything. Please. You can’t tell anyone about this. You just can’t. I don’t want to be responsible for the breakup of someone’s marriage.”

Kerry nodded understandingly, and they didn’t speak at all for the remainder of their lunch break, or the drive back to the office.

Once there, Gavin headed back to AHHQ and when he entered, he saw Michael sitting at his computer with a very irritated look on his face. Michael didn’t even look at Gavin for fear that someone else would notice. Both men kept their heads down for the rest of the workday, and then went their separate ways. 

“Hey, are we not inviting Gav and Meg over tonight?” Lindsay asked.

“No!” Michael yelled out rather quickly. “I mean, not tonight. I just want us to spend some time alone,” Michael remarked, hoping he was out of earshot to Gavin. He hurried Lindsay out hoping to evade any other issues or people.  
______________________________________________________________________________

_Michael stayed in the same spot he had been standing in as he watched his father walk out. Mr. Jones had left after their big fight, heading back to work where he didn’t have to think about his son, or his deceased wife, or home in general. Gavin made his way back down the stairs as Michael started cleaning up the mess they had made. He grabbed a rag and helped clean up._

_“Hey, do you wanna go to my house tonight and stay over?” Gavin asked._

_Michael hadn’t really said anything since his dad left and they had cleaned the kitchen in silence. When Gavin finally spoke, Michael just stopped moving. He set the rag he’d been using into the sink, and walked over to the couch and sat down. Gavin followed and sat beside him, not sure if he should say anything. However, at that moment, Michael rested his head on Gavin’s chest, and that was when the sobbing began. He clung to Gavin like a child would his mother, and wept in Gavin’s arms._

_Gavin smoothed his hand through Michael’s hair, just holding him, giving him the comfort he so desperately needed. He gently rocked his boyfriend, rubbing his back, and planting little kisses on the top of his head. He had never known anyone whose father treated their son like that, and he couldn’t understand how Michael’s could be so cruel. He thought about calling Geoff because Geoff would understand, and maybe even help, but as if Michael knew what Gavin was thinking, clung tighter to him, not wanting him to do anything but hold him._

_The boys sat on the couch for almost two hours before Gavin noticed Michael had stopped crying. Michael finally moved from his position on Gavin’s lap and the Brit noticed how puffy and red his boy’s eyes looked. He gently caressed Michael’s cheek, and pulled some hair away from his face. Michael just stared into Gavin’s eyes and leaned forward to kiss him softly. “Yeah,” Michael managed to say, his voice breaking a bit. “Can we go to your house? I don’t wanna be here right now.”_

_Gavin nodded, and told Michael to go get his things and he’d finish cleaning up. He called Geoff once Michael was upstairs. “Hi Geoff,” Gavin started sounding dejected._

_“Hey, what’s the matter, bud? You sound like you’re upset about something,” Geoff noticed hearing the tone in Gavin’s voice._

_“Yeah. Would it be all right if Michael stayed with us tonight?” Gavin pleaded._

_“Of course, buddy. But I thought you were gonna stay there tonight?”_

_“Change of plans. I’ll tell you about it later, if it’s okay with Michael. Could you come pick us up in about fifteen minutes?”_

_“Sure thing. See you soon,” Geoff said, and then hung up._

_Gavin finished up the kitchen, cleaning it as best he could, and went upstairs to help Michael. When he got up there, he saw that Michael’s things were only half packed, and that the fiery boy had fallen asleep. Gavin smiled small, glad to see his boyfriend in such a peaceful state, but he worried about leaving him there alone. Would his father come back?_

_Geoff arrived not too long after that, and spotted Gavin sitting on the porch. Gavin staggered over to the car, and got in. He was, if anything emotionally exhausted._

_“Where’s Michael?” Geoff asked._

_“He fell asleep. He was probably pretty worn out after what happened earlier,” Gavin started, frowning._

_“What happened? Is he okay?”_

_“Yeah, he’s okay. His dad came home early tonight and caught us kissing, and rip him a new one, as you Americans would say. He didn’t hit him or anything, but he was really mean to him, and said some things that were exceptionally cruel.” Gavin wrapped his arms around himself thinking about the early evening’s events._

_“Fuck. Where’s his dad now?” Geoff wondered._

_“I don’t know, but he left, and Michael- he just cried. I didn’t know what to do for him. I felt so useless,” Gavin whimpered, covering his face in shame._

_“Did you comfort him?”_

_“Yeah, as best I could, but it still didn’t feel like enough. I wanted to punch the shit out of his dad, but-”_

_“That would’ve only made things worse, kid. Trust me, you did the right thing.” The rest of the car ride was silent. Gavin didn’t really feel like talking anymore, and rested his head on the seatbelt, nearly falling asleep by the time they reached home._  
______________________________________________________________________________

A few weeks had passed, and Michael and Gavin continued to avoid each other at work. Even their after hours were very carefully played out, only spending time together as a group, and being careful not to be alone; But the problem with that was both of them couldn’t stand not being alone together. 

The looks they shared in passing, the ever-so-slight glances from their desks, the carefully crafted words they spoke to each other when everyone was in one room almost seemed planned out. Perhaps they had been.

One evening within the second of the three weeks, late at night after everyone was asleep, Michael snuck out of his home, and made his way to see Gavin. They met at a motel just on the outskirts of town. Michael arrived first, and sat outside of the motel office, waiting, checking his phone every five seconds wondering what could be taking Gavin so long. Approximately five minutes went by and Gavin showed up.

They said nothing to each other until they were safely inside one of the room. Michael made sure the curtains were completely closed, and then locked the door. He and Gavin immediately and desperately were all over each other; lips, hands, bodies all pressed together, re-familiarizing themselves with the other.

It was sweet, loving, and Michael always loved the way Gavin felt inside of him. Underneath it all, it was truly the only time Michael felt like somebody loved him, and he was always so grateful it was Gavin.

Once they finished, they stayed in one another's arms. Gavin laid his head on Michael’s chest, fingers playfully caressing his skin, tracing little shapes with his fingertips. Michael kissed him on the top of his head, and Gavin leaned up so their lips could touch. In this moment, there was no one else. In this moment, they were back in school, and it was only them; no one else existed.

This became a regular thing for the two lovers; meeting in secret was the only way the two could be together, the only time guilt never ate away at them. Here, it was Michael and Gavin.


	4. Chapter 4

_A few months went by, and Michael found himself spending more time at Gavin’s place then his own, strictly out of fear that his father would come home and catch them together again. He didn’t really think his father would do anything to hurt Gavin, but he sure didn’t want to take the chance. Better safe, than sorry._

_In school, their friends always loved seeing them together. Miles and Kerry seemed especially happy for them, and always commented on how, no matter what kind of shit they got, they stayed strong through adversity. Miles would often take a page from their book and apply it to his own relationship with Arryn. Ray was happy for his friends too, as was Barbara and Arryn, and it only made the group stronger as friends._

_Geoff and his wife Griffon loved having Michael over and seeing the way it made Gavin extremely happy. Sure, the boys had their share of fights, mostly due to some stupid move that happened in a video game, but more often than not, they were too cute, and adorable._

_One time after school, Michael and Gavin went to Michael’s place, and when Michael walked into his room, he found a gift box on his bed. Michael sighed, knowing who it was from, but he opened it anyway. He was surprised, however, that the person who left the gift actually did so._

_“What is that?” Gavin asked curiously._

_“It’s… from my dad,” Michael said as he picked up the box. It felt a little heavy._

_“What is it?”_

_“Dunno yet.” Michael lifted the box top, and inside were three of the latest games that had barely just come out. “Holy shit!”_

_“Wow. What does this mean?”_

_“It means- I dunno what this means. I guess it means he’s… sorry?” Michael shrugged, and looked over the games. “Damn. These are some cool games. Guess he did some research.”_

_“Well, that’s good, isn’t it?” Gavin smiled._

_Michael pulled out a card that was at the bottom of the box. He opened it and read it._

_Dear Michael,_

_I know it’s been a few months since we’ve really talked, well, fought, and I just wanted to tell you that I don’t hate you. I never hated you. I love you, but I’ve never been good at showing you that. I know I work all the time, and yeah, a part of that is because I really don’t know how to be a father to you. I never did. Your mother… she knew how to care for you. She knew what it took to be a parent, and all I knew how to do was be a provider. I loved your mother very much, and the day you were born was one of the happiest days of my life._

_I never meant to say those things I said to you. You are everything. You’re my world, and even though I don’t say it enough, or show you, you are loved. I don’t expect you to forgive me, or even talk to me, and I don’t blame you if you never want to speak to me again._

_I’m sorry this isn’t being done in person, but I was afraid you would just walk away from me if I tried talking to you. Again, I wouldn’t blame you. It was the same way with my dad. Maybe that’s why I have such a hard time being one to you._

_Michael, I want us to try again. We’re family, and I love you very much. I want to get to know you better, and… I’m interested in learning more about your “friend” as you called him. If he’s someone special to you, I’d really like to meet him, and see the one who makes my son happy. I do hope you’re happy._

_If you’re willing to give me a chance, I’d really like that, but if you don’t, I’ll understand, and I’ll give you whatever space you want. The decision is yours, but if you do decide, I’ll be home fairly early tonight. I was hoping that we could have dinner together._

_I know that if you’re home when I arrive, then we have a chance, but if not, please know that I’ll keep trying._

_Love,_

_Dad_

_Michael blinked away tears, wiping his face furiously. This was the first time his father ever apologized for anything. Then again, it had never gotten as bad as it did this last time. Their fights were usually about him not cleaning up, or his grades, or just that his dad worked too much; But the last fight they had had confirmed Michael’s fears, or so he thought. Then his father wrote him this letter, and now he was incredibly confused._

_“Michael, are you all right?” Gavin asked rubbing his hand on Michael’s back soothingly._

_Michael sniffed hard. “Yeah,” he said with a small smile. “Just surprised mostly.”_

_“What did the card say?” Michael handed Gavin the card and he read through it. His eyes widened in surprise while reading it, but by the time he finished, he was sniffling a little bit as well. “Oh my god. Are you going to do it? Are you going to forgive him?”_

_“I don’t know…”_  
______________________________________________________________________________

It was time for Geoff to throw a gaming party, inviting all his people, and a few others from the office, namely those Gavin hung out with back in school. In a way, it was like getting the old gang back together even if they saw each other everyday at work. Griffon had bought steaks, burgers, hotdogs, and other various meats, as well as plenty of side dishes and snacks, and of course, lots of beer. Geoff started up the grill, and had Gavin keeping an eye on it when he went inside to grab another bottle. 

Gavin lifted the grill’s lid and watched the burgers sizzle nicely, pressing gently down on a few of them as he’d seen Geoff do. He flipped them over, and closed the lid. Michael stepped outside handing Gavin a beer. 

“Having fun?” Michael joked, taking a swig of his beer.

Gavin twisted his open and the contents spilled out, so he caught it with his mouth before too much could escape. He gulped. “Yeah. This brings back memories, doesn’t it?” He glanced out across the backyard and saw all his friends, both old and new, and smiled. “Feels a little bit like old times.” The boys shared a knowing, and somewhat longing glance.

“Yeah… Better check those burgers; you don’t want to burn them,” Michael mentioned.

Gavin lifted the lid once again, and smoke seemed to exhale from the grill. “They’re good. See?”

Michael peeked at the burgers and nodded. “Lookin’ good, although, I can’t wait to get one of those steaks.”

Ray was standing in the backyard with his soda talking to Kerry about how he was gonna join them in the next GTA video they had planned, when he noticed Michael and Gavin, and the way they seemed to be acting over at the grill. Kerry turned to see what he was looking at. “Wow. I haven’t seen them look at each other like that since high school.”

“Yeah… well, they’re still pretty close, you know,” Kerry stated.

“Yeah, I know. Everybody knows; but look at them. Sometimes I still think they’re together, but then I remember they’re not. It’s these little things they do at work. I don’t think even they notice,” Ray observed.

“They think they’re being sneaky, but I don’t think they think we notice, especially those of us who’ve known them for a long time,” Kerry agreed.

“What have you noticed?” Ray asked.

Kerry wasn’t sure how to answer that, and it became apparently he suddenly seemed nervous. “Uh, nothing, really…”

“I call bullshit. You know something.”

“I don’t know anything,” Kerry insisted, though not very convincingly.

“Spill. What do you know?”

“Nothing, I-” Kerry’s eyes moved back over to Michael and Gavin, who seemed to be lost in whatever conversation they were having. “They used to be so happy, remember?”

“Fuck. No fucking way. Oh shit.” Ray’s eyes widened, as he seemed to figure something out, and that made Kerry panic. 

“What?”

Ray leaned in closer to Kerry. “They’ve fucked recently, haven’t they?”

Kerry did everything he could not to freak out. “Whaaaat…? Why would you-”

“Holy shit, they did; and you knew!” Ray’s mouth dropped in awe, and Kerry swallowed hard. “When did this shit happen?”

“I’m not supposed to say anything. Miles and I-” Immediately Kerry clapped his hand over his mouth.

“Miles knows too? What the fuck?!”

“Shh, keep your voice down,” Kerry shushed. “Do you want everybody to hear?”

Ray lowered his voice, looking around to see if anybody might have heard him, but no one seemed to notice. “Oh, fuck. This is fucking crazy. How did you find out?”

“Miles and I sorta heard them one night at the office,” Kerry mumbled.  
______________________________________________________________________________

_Michael’s father did come home early just as he had said he would and Michael was sitting on the couch with Gavin just waiting. When they heard the door open, Michael’s leg started shaking, and he swallowed hard. “I can’t do this,” he said, and jumped up off the couch._

_Gavin grabbed him and pulled him back down. “You can do this. You said you’d at least hear him out,” the Brit said, taking Michael’s hand and rubbing his thumb over his fingers._

_Mr. Jones stepped inside, saw his son sitting on the couch, and couldn’t help but smile. “Hey, Michael,” he started, setting his briefcase and bag down. He removed his shoes, and stepped into the living room. “I’m really glad you’re here.”_

_Michael nodded, but didn’t make eye contact. “Yeah.”_

_“So, um, this is your friend, right?” Mr. Jones offered a hand to Gavin._

_Gavin stood up and shook it. “I’m Gavin. It’s nice to actually meet you,” he said._ And not just hear you screaming at my boyfriend, _he thought._

_“Gavin? It’s a pleasure.” Mr. Jones looked at his son. “So, what would you like for dinner? I could make something, or if you want, we can order in. Or if you want to go out we can do that too…”_

_“Anything’s fine,” Michael muttered._

_Gavin sat back down, and whispered in Michael’s ear. “I thought you were going to at least try. Please?”_

_Michael sighed, and faced his dad. “I guess we could make something here,” he conceded._

_Mr. Jones nodded. “Great. Let’s see what we have,” he said, searching through the pantry. “How about spaghetti?”_

_“That’d be fine,” Michael said. Gavin nudged his side. “I mean, sure. Sounds good.” He gave Gavin a death glare, and Gavin smiled._

_Michael’s dad grabbed the sauce and noodles from the pantry and Michael took out the strainer and pots for cooking. Gavin sat on a stool at the island counter while he watched father and son prepare dinner. Michael pulled out some seasoning for the sauce and both Jones boys added a few different ones. Michael put the noodles into a pot of water, and turned on the burners._

_The Joneses turned around to share the island counter with Gavin. “Okay, while those cook, why don’t you tell me how the two of you met,” Mr. Jones began._

_Michael looked at Gavin, hoping he’d answer. Making dinner was one thing, but Michael wasn’t sure he was ready to have a regular conversation with him._

_“Well, uh, actually we met at the beginning of the school year. He um…” Gavin looked to Michael to finish that sentence._

_“I was dared to kiss him,” Michael finished. “Ray saw him and dared me to kiss him, so I did.”_

_Mr. Jones nodded as he listened. “Did it just happen right then?”_

_“No,” Gavin said. “It was awkward at first, so I had gone to ask him why he’d kissed me; But before I could ask, I was invited into his group of friends. It wasn’t actually until after the first week he asked me to be his boyfriend.”_

_Michael smiled hearing Gavin say that. Gavin smiled back at him. “We’ve been together since,” he added._

_“Did you always know you were… gay?” Mr. Jones asked._

_“I’m not gay. I like girls too. But I love Gavin,” Michael beamed._

_Gavin’s smile grew wide. “You do?”_

_Michael laughed. “Yeah, you big idiot. I love you.”_

_“I love you too, Michael,” Gavin squealed._   
______________________________________________________________________________

The barbeque went off without a hitch. Everybody gathered around the table outside and ate all the delicious food that was offered, and drank plenty of beer. The gang gathered inside for the ultimate video game challenge, and a tournament began. Each group took turns playing, the champion moving on to the next round until all but two players were eliminated. No surprise, Gavin was one of the first to be knocked out. Michael made it pretty far, but not far enough and both boys sat and watched. 

Geoff had a good lead in his group, and Meg was killing it for her team. Lindsay wasn’t doing too badly either, which surprised Michael considering he usually tended to beat her in the games they played. Miles was destroying anyone who got in his way, and Kerry was kicking some ass as well. As always though, it was Ray who was way out front. He took down Ryan, and moved on to his next opponent. 

Michael got up from the game, and went to the kitchen to grab another beer. Gavin got up and followed, after a few minutes. Michael opened the fridge and took out two beers, one for him, and one for Gavin. They popped them open, and both drank deep. 

“How many have you had tonight,” Michael asked.

“Not enough,” Gavin responded and drank more.

“I just don’t want you to get a hangover. You’re shit when you’re hung over.”

“So are you. Remember that time we got so drunk,” Gavin started.

“And we dared Miles and Kerry to kiss?” Michael finished.

“Yeah. Remember how pissed Arryn was about that?”

“But then you dared Arryn and Barbara to kiss, and they did,” Michael chuckled. Gavin joined in the laughter. “Miles and Kerry just pecked, but the girls went all out. That was a fucking awesome night.”

“I don’t remember too much after that, but Ray got it all on his phone. He was laughing for weeks after that. He always threatened to use it against us, but never did,” Gavin recalled.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if he still has it,” Michael concluded. He peeked in to the living room to see how the games were going. Loud cheers and boos were heard from all the players and those watching. Michael stepped back into the kitchen, and took Gavin’s face in his hands and kissed him hard. 

Gavin tangled his fingers in Michael’s hair, pulling him closer, deepening the kiss. Before they could even think about going any further, however, someone cleared their throat. The boys pulled away from each other fast. They turned to see who it was, and was grateful to see that it was Ray.

“Busted,” Ray whispered, but laughed quietly.

“What the fuck, Ray! You scared the shit out of us,” Michael snapped, keeping his voice low.

“Sorry. Maybe you two should be more careful. You know everybody is right out there. What if it was someone else who walked in? Or what if it was Lindsay?” Ray questioned.

Michael cast his eyes to the floor. “It was gonna be real quick. I just-”

“Just what, Michael? Seriously, you could’ve easily been caught by someone else,” Ray scolded. “What the fuck were you two thinking? Or maybe you weren’t thinking.” 

“We know. It was just exciting, knowing everyone else was-”

“Exciting? Dude. You know you’re cheating on your wife, right?” Both men lowered their heads. “Don’t worry, I won’t say anything, but really guys, you’ve gotta be more careful. Fuck exciting. If you wanna do this, do it somewhere you won’t get caught. And not late night at the office either.” Ray smirked a little, and Michael and Gavin knew he had been talking to Kerry.


	5. Chapter 5

_Junior year finally ended, and things were going splendidly for the young couple. Michael and his father eventually patched things up, and their relationship grew a bit stronger, granted they still had their share of fights over stupid things mostly. As for the boys, their relationship blossomed. They spent the entire summer together, taking their relationship further than before._

_Mr. Jones took the boys on a much-needed vacation taking some time off from work to spend with his son. Knowing Michael would never go without Gavin, he extended the offer to his son’s boyfriend._

_All three boys packed up the car, and drove for hours. The drove out of Austin, and eventually out of Texas, and headed for California. The first stop on the agenda: Disneyland. The boys spend the better part of a week there, half of it spent at Disneyland Park, the other half spend at California Adventure. By the time that part of the trip was over, Michael and his father had a nice sunburn, and Gavin had a nice tan._

_They hit the road once more, and drove until they reached Yosemite National Park. The guys went camping for five days, roughing it in the wilderness, although roughing it really meant buying firewood and loads of food and ice, along with one large tent. It took some convincing on Michael’s part, but his dad finally agreed to let them sleep in the same section as long as they promised no ‘funny business’ while they were in the tent together. Michael and Gavin were fine with that, as they often went hiking, and found other places for ‘funny business.’_

_On the road once again, and the gents found themselves headed to the Grand Canyon. The vast canyon was such a romantic scene, that the young boys couldn’t help but have a make out session in the middle of the crowd. Sneers and jeers were heard all around them, but they ignored all the assholes who had to make a comment. From there, dad decided to take the boys to Vegas to see a few shows that were playing, and experience the ‘bright lights, big city’ feel. They only stayed a few days, but they got to see several different shows, ate dinner in several of the many casino hotels, including the one they stayed in, and even careful played a slot machine or two._

_The end of July was near, and that meant it was time to celebrate Michael’s birthday. They drove back to Austin, and hopped on an airplane and headed to New Jersey. Mr. Jones thought it’d be a nice idea for him to take his boy back home for his birthday to see his extended family._

_Mr. Jones told Gavin about their destination, but made him promise not to tell Michael until he’d hear it announced by the pilot when they landed._

_“Okay dad, where are we going?” Michael asked frustrated._

_“It’s a surprise. You’ll see when we get there,” his father replied._

_Michael turned to Gavin. “You know, don’t you?”_

_Gavin, not being the greatest liar, cinched his lips tightly, and shook his head. “Mm mm.”_

_“Oh, come on, Gavvy, tell me. Where are we going?” Michael smiled cheekily approaching his boyfriend with ready to tickle fingers. “Come on, Gavvy. I know you know. Don’t make me tickle it outta you.”_

_Gavin opened his mouth just long enough to say this sentence, “can’t tell you,” then sealed his lips once more shaking his head._

_“Michael, leave him alone, I’ve sworn him to secrecy. It’s part of your birthday gift, so let him be.”_

_“Fine,” Michael huffed, but proceeded to tickle his beau anyway._

_They boarded the plane, and they were off. There was a four-hour layover in Chicago, so the boys did a small amount of exploring, taking a cab around the city, and grabbing lunch at one of the many restaurants. They boarded their next flight, which lasted about an hour, and finally arrived at their final destination. The pilot made the announced and Michael smiled. “Holy fuck, we’re home!”_

_They rode a cab to his grandma’s house, and Michael pointed out all his old haunts from when he was a kid, though not all of them were on the route the cabbie took. Once inside, the family greeted them with hugs and kisses, Michael being told how tall he’d gotten, and how handsome he had become. Moreover, they adored Gavin as well, asking all sorts of questions, but no one ever asking the important question. Michael was all right with that for now, as he was enjoying all the attention from his family._

_There was a big celebration for the curly-haired young man, as he celebrated his eighteenth birthday. “HAPPY BIRTHDAY!”_

_Michael blew out his candles then grasped Gavin’s hand giving him a smile. Grandma and dad passed out cake and ice cream, Michael’s two aunts and one uncle handed him some gifts, and their combined kids--which added up to five--gave Michael their gifts as well. It was a sweet little party, mostly to oblige Grandma’s need to be grandma, and spoil her missed grandson._

_The party finally wound down, and dad’s brother and sisters went their separate ways, leaving Mr. Jones, Michael, Gavin, and Grandma. Grandma went to bed early, feeling tired after a long day of celebration, but promised to be up bright and early for a big breakfast. Michael’s dad knocked off early too leaving the boys all alone as they shared a room together._

_“Wow, you’re family is great!” Gavin recalled. “They really know how to throw a party, eh?”_

_Michael laughed. “Yeah, if you can call that a party; But it was nice, and I’m glad we’re here. Tomorrow I wanna show you my old house, and maybe take you to meet my mom’s parents.” Michael seemed to have a faraway look, but smiled. “I wish you could’ve met my mom. She was great. Kinda like Griffon, but way cooler.”_

_“No one is ‘cooler’ that Griffon,” Gavin insisted, but smiled anyway. “She had to be pretty top to have someone like you though,” he added, earning him a kiss from his boyfriend._

_The boys lied down on the bed they were sharing, Michael in Gavin’s arms, both also rather tired due to jet lag, and a change in time zones. They fell asleep holding tight to each other, as they drifted off into dreamland._  
______________________________________________________________________________

A month or so after the big BBQ, Michael and Gavin tried to make things seem more normal, keeping all conversations, including the ones they had while filming their show, friendly and nothing more. They kept a close eye on Ray, not that they were really worried he’d say anything, given he never showed the video of them so shitfaced back in high school; but out of fear that he may make a comment or a joke, and someone else just might catch on. Ray kept his end of the deal, though, and said nothing, joke or otherwise.

The two men were very careful--even when outside of work, except when they met in secret, late at night, when no one would notice. Michael often worried if Lindsay had even an inkling that things were amiss, but she never seemed to show any distrust whatsoever. The same was with Gavin, curious as to whether Meg had become aware of anything out of the ordinary, but everything seemed to be going just fine. 

At home, both men were good with their women, showing them the love they had for them--which they truly did--but when they were alone, no one else in the world existed. It was as if they were transported back to their school days. This was becoming a conflicting issue for both men. The fear of being caught always ate away at them, but the thrill of being together, knowing that what they were doing was considered wrong, it made it all the more tempting. They shared something for many years, and those feelings never went away. There was a certain desperation, a need to be together just as they had been all those years ago.

Another several months and life at the office was back to the way it used to be. Michael and Gavin had gotten really good at just being ‘themselves’ and no one seemed the wiser. It also seemed Ray stopped giving them the watchful eye, and everything was in the clear. They had discussed during their secret meetings how to act with their friends and loved ones so no one would ever suspect anything was going on. Miles and Kerry stopped bugging them about it too, as they lied and told them they had stopped.

What they had thought was the ‘perfect plan’ began to slowly unravel as one night Lindsay awoke and noticed her husband wasn’t in their bed. Wearily, she checked the bathroom, then the kitchen, thinking maybe he was hungry, but couldn’t find him. She checked the rest of their place, but still nothing. However, before she could panic, the front door opened, and Michael walked through. 

“Oh shit!” Michael yelled, not expecting to see Lindsay standing in the living room. 

“Where have you been?” She asked sleepily, yawning.

“Uh, I just went out for a bit. Got hungry and wanted to get a burger.” Michael hadn’t prepared for this moment, so he didn’t have a lie ready. He thought quickly on his feet, hoping that his wife was too tired to care. Thankfully, she was and gave him a sloppy kiss, and went back to bed. 

“Fuck,” Michael muttered quietly to himself. He slumped onto the couch, trying to catch his breath, realizing he was breathing rapidly. Shit… he’d almost been caught. How the fuck would he be able to explain that?

The following morning, Lindsay asked him about it, but he tried to pass it off as her probably dreaming. For the moment, she bought it, and they went about the day as usual; but there was just the tiniest hint of doubt in the back of her mind.  
______________________________________________________________________________

_The following morning, Michael was awakened to the smell of bacon cooking, and he inhaled deeply. “Oh fuck yeah,” he said, stretching his arms over his head, smacking Gavin in the face._

_“Ow,” Gavin cried, and Michael laughed._

_“Aw, sorry boy,” Michael said, crawling up to Gavin’s lips and kissing him._

_“Ew, morning breath,” Gavin whined, but kissed Michael anyway._

_The boys sat up, and Gavin stretched, and Michael took the opportunity to tickle him, earning a loud squeal from the Brit. “Michael!”_

_Michael laughed again. “What?”_

_“Boys, come on down stairs,” Michael’s dad called, obviously hearing them. “Breakfast is ready.”_

_“Fuck yeah. Come on, Gav, let’s go.”_

_The boys ran down the stairs and right into the kitchen, taking a seat at the table. Speaking of the table, on it sat a large plate of bacon, which Michael eyed hungrily, a plate of at least a foot high stack of pancakes, a plate loaded with scrambled eggs, a plate full of home style country potatoes, a carafe of orange juice, a pot of coffee, and a pot of tea (mostly for Gavin). There was also a bottle of ketchup, some hot sauce, syrup, cream, and sugar set on the table._

_Michael stuck his fork into the bacon pulling a good portion of the plate onto his own. Michael’s father and Gavin raised an eyebrow at him. “Seriously?” His father said, shaking his head._

_“Share,” Gavin said, and forked some of the bacon onto his plate, causing a ‘fork war’ to begin. Before it could get too far and food started flying everywhere, Grandma put a stop to it. The rest of breakfast was rather quiet, mostly due to mouths being full, and stomachs being satisfied._

_Later that day, Michael took Gavin out and showed him the neighborhood, walking to his old house, which wasn’t too far from where his grandma lived. They hopped on a bus, and he showed Gavin all the places he loved to hang out, took him to the arcade--where they spent a good few hours playing games--headed over to the pizza parlor for lunch, then made their way to Michael’s other grandparents’ house._

_“Hi Nana, it’s Michael. Do you mind if my friend and I come to visit? Okay, great. No, we’re almost there. We’ll see you in a few minutes. Yeah, on the bus. No, dad brought me here for my birthday. Yeah, see you soon. Love you too.”_

_“You’re nana sounds really sweet,” Gavin cooed._

_“She is. She’s a lot like my mom. My pops is great too. You’ll like him, though he loves to talk about fishing and shit. Oh, and ‘cause they’re old school, no cursing. Nana hates it so much. I used to get into so much shit when I was younger,” Michael reminisced, and Gavin nodded. Michael pulled the cord and the bus stopped about a block away._

_Just before knocking on the door, Michael pulled Gavin into a fierce kiss, not sure when the next time he’d have the chance._

_“Hi Nana,” Michael beamed, and hugged her tightly, but not too tightly. “Nana, this is Gavin.”_

_“Cheers,” Gavin said, going to shake her hand, but instead was pulled into a hug._

_The boys entered the house and were immediately bombarded with the smell of baby powder and pee. Gavin gagged a bit and Michael tried breathing through his mouth. “Have a seat, boys,” Nana said, and sat down in her chair. “Pops is in the back room looking for his teeth again,” she smiled. “Michael, come here. Let me get a good look at you.” Michael stepped over to her. “You have gotten so tall. And you look so much like your mother.”_

_“Thanks, Nana.”_

_“Happy birthday,” she offered, handing him an envelope. “Open it later,” she said and patted his hands._

_“Sure thing, Nana.”_

_“So, Gavin,” she started. “Where are you from? I can hear an accent when you talk.”_

_“I’m from Oxfordshire, UK, ma’am,” Gavin said matter-of-factly._

_“Oh please call me Nana. Anyone who makes my Michael happy I consider part of the family,” she said, and winked at him._

_“All right, Nana,” Gavin replied with a hint of awkwardness, shrugging at Michael._

_“Nana, Gavin and I are just-”_

_“Michael, you don’t have to lie to me. I know my grandson better than he thinks. And I’m glad he makes you happy.”_

_Michael smiled. “Thanks, Nana. It makes it a hel- I mean, a lot easier to not have to hide the truth.”_

_“Considering you’re my only grandson, I make it a point to know everything about you,” she admitted. She turned her attention to Gavin. “His mother was our only child, so he got plenty of attention growing up, anytime his mother would bring him here. I knew a long time ago.”_

_“Nana, I do like girls too,” Michael mentioned, but she seemed to ignore him._

_“When he was a toddler, he would ask his mother if he could wear her lipstick every time she’d put it on. That wasn’t how I knew, but I knew he was special even then. I think what gave it away though was when I’d be watching him, and he’d have a male play date over, he always had to kiss them goodbye. He was such a cute little boy.” Nana picked up the picture she had of Michael with his mother that sat on the table beside her chair._

_“Nana, are you_ trying _to embarrass me?” Michael huffed as his face flushed._

_“Oh, Michael. I think it’s cute,” Gavin teased, earning a punch to his gut. He fell over laughing and squealing._

_“Still think it’s fuc- I mean, still think it’s funny?”_

_“Yeah,” Gavin groaned as he rolled on the carpeted floor._  
______________________________________________________________________________

Things were starting to spiral out of control, and Michael knew it. He was starting to feel like his life was falling apart, though he knew it was all his own doing. He’d almost been caught one night, and had to be more careful about how he handled things. On one of his days off, he decided to take a drive, hoping that being alone would help him figure things out. 

He drove for hours, finding himself in places he and Gavin used to frequent in their youth. He hadn’t meant to drive to those places, but he had, and it only seemed to make him angry. He pulled over, hitting the steering wheel a few times or so with his head, screaming obscenities until his voice hurt in an attempt to calm himself. It only mildly helped. 

Michael took out his phone and scrolled through his contact list, trying to figure out who to talk to besides Gavin. He couldn’t talk to his friends at work, they were too close to the situation; and besides, he had already told them things were over between he and Gavin. He scrolled until he reached the Ds, and there it was... Dad. He could call his dad, but what he needed right now was more than a phone call. With the decision made, he started up the car and drove to his dad’s house; a house he hadn’t been to in a long time. 

He pulled up into the driveway, and got out of the car, only then realizing that his dad’s car was parked out in front of the house. For some reason, it hadn’t occurred to him that his dad might not be home. Thankfully, he was, and Michael made his way to the front door.

“Michael! This is a surprise,” Dad exclaimed, hugging his son.

“Hey dad,” Michael said dejected. “Can I come in?”

“Yeah, of course. What’s going on?”

Michael took a seat at the counter, and buried his face into his arms, groaning. “Dad, I’m a fucking idiot.”

Mr. Jones handed his son a beer, and sat across from him. “Wanna tell me why you’re a fucking idiot?”

Michael smacked his head against his arms. “‘Cause… I’m doing something really stupid, and I don’t wanna stop.”

“You’re not doing drugs, are you?” Mr. Jones asked. Michael looked at his father incredulously. “Shit, I was just asking. Then what are you doing that’s so stupid?”

Michael kept his head down for a good long moment, trying to find the right words, but instead groaned even louder.

“You know, I can’t read your mind, right?” Mr. Jones said as an attempt to make his son laugh.

“Dad, you’re not funny,” Michael simply stated.

“Well, I can’t help you if you don’t tell me the fuck is bothering you.”

Michael took a deep drink of his beer. “Dad… I cheated on Lindsay.”

Mr. Jones stood up from his stool, went to the cupboard above the stove, and pulled out a bottle whiskey, setting in on the counter along with two highball glasses. “Something tells me you’re gonna need this,” he said, and poured a shot’s worth into each glass.

“Thanks dad,” Michael sighed, and knocked the drink back quick.

Dad kept the drinks coming as Michael continued. “Yeah, I cheated on Lindsay. And you can probably guess with who.” He knocked another one back. “Dad, I’m a fucking idiot.”

“You’ve said that already.”

“I’m fucking serious! I cheated, and I’m an asshole, and I don’t wanna to stop.”

“Does the other party in question wanna stop, or…”

“You mean, Gavin? No. He doesn’t want to stop either. And he’s fucking cheating as well.”

“Why didn’t you two just get back together when he came back?”

“‘Cause I was already engaged to Lindsay by the time he came back, and I- I couldn’t do that to her.” Michael slammed yet another shot back, starting to feel the effects slightly.

“But you’re doing it to her now. And what you’re doing now is worse than it would’ve been had you just broken up with her when Gavin came back,” Mr. Jones pointed out.

“Motherfucker. I know this shit, dad. I didn’t come here for you to tell me that,” Michael snarled, now only sipping his drink.

“Hey, don’t get pissed at me for your stupid shit, Michael. You came to talk to me, and I’m just telling you how it is.”

“I fucking hate it when you’re right.”

“You know, I remember the first time I saw you with Gavin,” Mr. Jones began.

“Yeah, we had a huge fight…”

“But that’s not what I’m getting at. When I walked in on the two of you, I didn’t know what to think. I saw my son kissing another boy, and I was at a compete loss. I guess, I had never expected to come home to that, and it took me by surprise. After we had that fight, and the way you stood up to me, and the way you stood up for Gavin, I realized I had never seen you fight so fiercely for anything. I realized that I didn’t know my son at all. I also realized that you reminded me so much of your mom. She always fought for what she believed in, and never backed down no matter what stood in her way. You are exactly like your mom.”

“So are you saying that mom cheated on you?”

“No, that’s not at all what I meant. I guess what I mean is, you and Gavin had something worth fighting for, and I remember how happy you used to be when you were together. When we went back to Jersey for your birthday, even your grandma, my mom noticed something between the two of you. Not to mention you told me Nana figured things out. My point is, Michael, is that maybe you’re cheating on your wife with your ex because you’re still in love with Gavin. Honestly son, you need to stop being selfish and chose one. It’s not fair to either side if you keep doing this.” Mr. Jones got up and put the scotch away before Michael got too drunk. “And I think you’ve had enough.”

“Dad… how do I do this? I love Lindsay; I wouldn’t have married her if I didn’t, but- you’re right about Gavin.”


	6. Chapter 6

_Senior year began and the boys were excited to finish off high school. The gang met up in their usual morning spot, and hugs were given all around, mostly from Barbara and Arryn, but the boys hugged too._

_“So how was your summer?” Barbara started with the questions to the group._

_“Awesome,” Miles replied, taking his girlfriend’s hand and squeezing it. “We uh… we spend all summer together, and decided to-”_

_Arryn cut him off. “Miles, they don’t need to know that.”_

_“What? I was just gonna say we decided that after high school we were gonna move in together. Oh, you thought I was gonna say-”_

_“Okay, that’s enough,” she said, and shushed him with her lips._

_“How about you, Kerry?” Barbara asked, ignoring the sickeningly sweet couple._

_“It’s was pretty cool. I spent most of the time visiting family, and went to Six Flags. It was so much fun,” Kerry said excitedly._

_“And you, Ray? How was your summer?” Barbara asked._

_“Eh, it was summer. Spent it mostly playing video games, and perfecting my scores,” Ray responded._

_“What did you do, Barbie?” Gavin asked._

_“I went to Canada to visit family too. I also met someone,” Barbara announced, more excited about the last part. “His name is Aiden; I met him while out with the family. He’s so cute, and he’ll be visiting me over the school year.”_

_“Oh yay,” Arryn said, hugging Barbara. “I’m so happy for you.”_

_“And what did you guys do?” Miles asked Michael and Gavin._

_“Oh, not too much. My dad took us to Disneyland-” Michael started._

_“And California Adventure,” Gavin added._

_“For like, a week.”_

_“Then he took us camping-”_

_“At Yosemite in Northern California for like, five days.”_

_“After that, his dad took us to-”_

_“The Grand Canyon,” both boys spoke at the same time then laughed._

_“After that, my dad drove us to Vegas-”_

_“For some really top shows-”_

_“And a little gambling. Oh, and don’t forget the best part,” Michael bragged._

_“For his birthday,” Gavin said, pointing at Michael. “His dad took us-”_

_“Back home to Jersey, and I got to see my family too. They all loved Gavin, and my Nana said he’s now part of the family.”_

_The group seemed astounded at how well the two boys were in sync with each other, finishing each other’s sentences, and seemingly knowing what the other was going to say._

_“Wow… sounds like you guys had a great time,” Miles smiled. “And uh, the way you two did that, thing was kinda awesome.”_

_“What thing?” Michael asked curiously._

_“You know, the back and forth, finishing each other’s sentences, thing.”_

_Everybody laughed, and the bell rang for first period. “See you at lunch,” they simultaneously announced, going their separate ways._

_Michael and Gavin were happy to learn they had the first three classes together, and made certain to sit beside each other. Their first class was Government, which was always a joy first thing in the morning. For the most part, they weren’t really paying attention to the teacher’s lecture. Their second class was computer science, which they both found rather interesting, though half of their attention was still on the other, and barely got an idea of what the class had to offer. Their third class was English, where they were immediately told to pick a partner for the rest of the semester for the big project as part of their winter finals. Naturally, they picked each other. The rest of their classes didn’t matter, as they didn’t share any other classes._

_The bell rang, and the students let out for lunch. The group met up at their favorite table, the same one they’d been sitting at since freshman year, and the same one they had met Gavin. They gathered after they got their lunches, but now things were different. This time they were seniors so they got to be the first ones in line to get their lunches._

_“Oh man, that was sweet,” Kerry started. “We got to be the first in line. Feels good.”_

_“Yeah, and everything is still hot and fresh. Well, fresh as they can be for school lunches,” Barbara added._

_“They’re not that bad,” Gavin chimed in, picking up a tater tot and stuffing it in his mouth._

_Michael forked one of his tots, and put half of it in his mouth, then kissed Gavin, who bit the other half, and kissed back._

_“Ugh, get a room you two,” Barbara joked._

_“That’s later,” Michael commented, giving his boy a little pitch to his ass earning a squeal from the Brit._

_“Sometimes I think you two are worse than those two,” Kerry said, pointing at Miles and Arryn, who were also being overly adorable. He rolled his eyes. “Fuck, I need a girlfriend.” He turned his attention to Barbara, who shook her head._

_“Nope. I’ve got a boyfriend,” she responded, giving Kerry a smile. “You’ll find someone.” Barbara stood up and pointed her finger up to the sky. “I vow to make it my mission to find you a girlfriend,” she promised, and the rest of the group laughed. “I’m serious. I’ll find you a girlfriend, and we can all be happy together.”_

_“Thanks, Barb,” Kerry chuckled. “If that’s what you really wanna do, go for it.”_  
______________________________________________________________________________

Gavin was tearing his hair out trying to figure out a way to deal with the already delicate situation he and Michael were in. They decided to ‘cool it’ for a little while after Lindsay had almost caught Michael, but Gavin was having a hard time not being with his boy. Gavin was grateful that Meg had gone out of town for one of the many conventions that existed, so he didn’t have to worry about her getting suspicious. 

Gavin knew he needed to talk to someone, but he couldn’t think of one person who would understand. Then he thought about Geoff; Geoff had been a like a father to him ever since he arrived in Austin all those years ago. He knew he could talk to Geoff about anything, but he was scared Geoff would give him shit for this and hesitated. He texted Geoff and asked if they could meet at the park about half a mile from his place.

“Hey, Geoff,” Gavin said frowning.

“Hey, what’s the matter, bud? I haven’t seen you this depressed since- well since you and Michael broke up. Is everything okay?” Geoff began, taking a seat next to Gavin.

“No, they’re not. Things are far from okay, and I’m not sure how to deal with them.”

“Are you and Meg having problems? Is it something at work? Is Michael being an asshole again?” Geoff chuckled at his last question, but Gavin’s frown didn’t change. “Wow, it must be pretty fucking serious. What’s going on?”

“Geoff, I don’t know how to tell you this, but…” Gavin swallowed hard, and took a deep breath. “First you have to promise me that everything we discuss stays strictly between us. You can’t even tell Griffon.”

“Yeah, sure, but now you’re scaring me. What the fuck could be so serious I can’t even tell Griffon?”

“Promise me!”

“Yeah, I promise. What the hell is going on, Gav?”

Gavin stared at the ground, twiddling his fingers, and shaking his legs. “I’ve- Michael and I have been- We’re having an affair.”

Now Geoff understood why he couldn’t even tell Griffon. “I see…”

“We’ve been seeing each other in secret for the better part of a year,” Gavin kept his eyes down, afraid to look at Geoff directly. “We know what we’re doing is wrong, but- but-”

“But? But you can’t help yourselves? Have you even fucking thought about the people you’re hurting?” Geoff scolded.

“They don’t know…”

“And that makes it okay? Gavin, I get it. You and Michael used to be a thing and I’m sure there’s still some unresolved feelings between the two of you… but fuck, Gavin; Michael is married, and you’ve got a girlfriend. For fucks sake, you were the best man at his wedding.” Geoff got up and paced a moment then sat back down. 

“Geoff, please don’t lecture me. You don’t think we feel bad enough? I feel awful about cheating on Meg, and I know Michael feels like shit for cheating on Lindsay. I don’t need you to make me feel worse than I already do. Please,” Gavin begged.

Geoff sighed. “I’m sorry. Look, Gav, if you feel like shit about what you’re doing, then why keep doing it?”

“Because you’re right; we have unresolved feelings that never went away. I love him, Geoff, and I always have…” 

“Do you love Meg?”

“And that’s where the problem lies,” Gavin admitted. “I do love her, but it’s never been the same with her. It’s different. Michael was my first with everything: my first love, my first time, and he has always had my heart.”

Geoff sighed loudly. “Gavin, buddy, the best thing I can tell you is you gotta figure out which one you really want. Is Michael worth losing Meg? Or is that what you want? Who do you love more? And will Michael choose the same? You guys gotta figure this shit out, and soon before someone gets hurt.”  
______________________________________________________________________________

_Senior year was going splendidly, and everyone in the group seemed to be doing well, save for Kerry, who was feeling like a seventh wheel, especially when Barbara’s boyfriend came to visit. Barbara kept her word about finding Kerry a girlfriend, but so far, most of the girls she spoke to seemed to only look at Kerry like a little brother, or that nice guy friend._

_“It’s time to ask girls from other schools,” Barbara told Arryn while they sat in their Econ class. “I feel so bad that I can’t find him a girlfriend.”_

_“It’s not your fault, Babs,” Arryn said as Barbara shot her a death glare. “What?”_

_“Don’t_ ever fucking _call me Babs,” Barbara hissed through her teeth._

_“Oh shit, sorry. But it’s a cute name…” Arryn shut her mouth quickly, motioning the zip of her lips as Barbara growled._

_“I mean, Barb,” Arryn whimpered, and Barbara went back to her smile._

_“Good. But seriously, nobody seems to want to date Kerry.”_

_“Which is stupid; he’s such a sweet guy, and I’d bet he’d make any girl happy,” Arryn offered._

_“So, after school we’ll all head over to the mall and find Kerry a girlfriend.”_

_After school, the gang met up by Miles car, and as usual piled in, all for the exception of Ray. “Sorry guys, I can’t go with you today. My mom’s making me go see my aunt. Her husband left her and she needs to be consoled,” Ray uttered the last word sarcastically. “See you guys later.”_

_The backseat was a little bit more comfortable, but not much. The usual two were in the front seat, and Kerry, Michael and Barbara took up the back seats, and Gavin lay atop them, his ass in Michael’s face. Michael took the opportunity to bite his boyfriend’s ass and Gavin squeaked, nearly falling onto the floor._

_“Hey, I’m driving here. Don’t make me pull this car over, children,” Miles joked._

_“I can’t help it if Gavin has a sensitive ass,” Michael mused._

_“Do I have to take a belt to you two?” Arryn quipped._

_“No, mommy, we’re sowwy,” Michael pouted and everyone laughed._

_They arrived at their destination and exited the car. “Okay, so why are we here?” Miles asked._

_“Well I’m here ‘cause I’m hungry. I dunno about the rest of you,” Michael chimed, taking Gavin’s hand and headed toward the food court._

_“I could eat,” Kerry revealed as he started to follow the other two._

_“No!” Barbara called out quickly. “I mean, we’ll eat, but first we’re gonna find you a girlfriend.”_

_Kerry groaned. “But I’m hungry. Can’t you look while I eat?”_

_“Yeah, you girls go find him a girlfriend, and we’ll go eat with the other two,” Miles declared._

_Barbara and Arryn rolled their eyes. “Ugh, fine. Go eat. I’m only trying to find you someone so you won’t be so lonely,” Barbara scoffed making Kerry feel bad._

_Kerry sighed. “Fine, I’ll go with you.”_

_Miles laughed, but Arryn shot him a dirty look, and he cleared his throat. “Can I at least go eat? I’m starving.”_

_“Miles, Kerry is your best friend. Don’t you wanna see him happy like you?” Barbara said, using her powers of guilt tripping on the poor lad._

_“I hate you,” Miles glared._

_Barbara stood proud grinning. “I know.”_  
______________________________________________________________________________

Late night at the office had the two lads rubbing their eyes sleepily. They had been on their break for a couple weeks, and it was taking its toll. They stayed late hours just so they could spend extra time alone, whether they were intimate or not, as long as they were together. Lindsay had gone home earlier, knowing Michael would be working late on either a video he’d been working on, or filming an episode of their series. 

“This is getting ridiculous, Gav,” Michael burst out, but kept his voice low. “I need to touch you, and I need you to touch me.”

“I know, Michael, but-”

“But what?”

“Maybe we should stop,” Gavin proposed.

“I’ll stop if you _really_ wanna stop; but I know you, Gav, and I know you don’t wanna stop.”

“Sometimes it’s not fair how well you know me.”

Michael walked over to Gavin’s desk and lifted him from his chair. “Gavin, look me in the eyes right now and tell me you want to fucking end this, and we’ll end this right now.”

“I- I don’t want to end this, Michael,” Gavin said, holding himself back from kissing him.

“I don’t either… and I really need you to touch me right now.”

“Michael, not here, we promised. Let’s meet at our usual motel tonight. I need you to touch me too.”

“Good. It might have to be a little later than usual just to make sure Lindsay’s completely asleep, and there’s no chance of her waking up this time.”

Lindsay had come back to the office in hopes of convincing her husband to come home, but when she got there, she got more than she’d bargained for, hearing every word of their conversation. Holding back tears, she quietly left and went back home before she was caught.

The guys left for the night, shutting down their computers and game systems, and turning out all the lights. Michael dropped Gavin off at home, and headed home himself. When he got there all the lights were out, so he figured Lindsay must’ve already gone to bed. He removed his shoes, and made his way to the bedroom, where he saw his sleeping wife. He kissed her gently on the cheek as to not wake her, and changed into something more comfortable. He hadn’t noticed her cheek was wet, as she continued to pretend to be asleep. He laid in bed for a little while, waiting for the time to pass, and when he felt convinced she wouldn’t wake up, he texted Gavin to meet him at the motel.

Michael very quietly snuck out of his house, tiptoeing out of the bedroom, and out the front door. He started the car, and took off. Lindsay sat up in their bed, tears staining her pillow and face, and she wiped her eyes. She knew Michael and Gavin used to be together back in school, and she knew they had a hard breakup, but she never imagined her husband would ever cheat on her with his ex.

She got dressed and made her way out the door, hoping she wasn’t too far behind Michael. If so, she’d just check the different motels until she’d see Michael’s car. It took her a couple hours to find him, but she spotted his car, and parked away from the motel, walking over to the office.

“Excuse me,” she said to the clerk. “Which room is Michael Jones in?”

And because it was such a sleazy motel, the clerk looked up the information and told Lindsay exactly what room. She made her way over, but noticed the curtains were closed. What was she going to do? Should she just knock and let them know she knows the truth? Or maybe she should bide her time and keep following them until they slip up. She wondered how long this had been going on when she heard Michael moan loudly.

“Oh Gavin,” she heard him cry out, and she began crying again. She tried to peek in through the very small slit in the curtain, but could only barely make out silhouettes. What she did see astounded her. Michael was… being fucked. Of all the things she saw, that was not one she had expected to see. The way her husband writhed underneath his lover, Lindsay felt confused. She didn’t know how to feel. She had expected to see Michael dominating, but that wasn’t the case, and she… liked what she saw. 

Lindsay shook her head, and ran to her car, getting in and slamming the door. “Holy fuck. Michael’s… I know I should be mad at him, but- I mean, I am mad, I’m furious, but-” She just couldn’t find the words she wanted to say. She knew she was angry, and she certainly was hurt, but seeing her husband in such a position made her… hot?

She drove off like a bat out of hell, and went home, not sure what to think, and hoped sleep would help clear her mind. But sleep was difficult to find when all she could see in her mind was her husband being fucked by his lover.


	7. Chapter 7

_It took a couple months of hanging out at the mall after school, but one girl seem to notice Kerry, and smiled every time she saw him. She worked at one of the many stores that frequented the mall, and as he walked past, she’d beam. It took all of one day for Barbara to notice the girl, and told Kerry all about it._

_“What if she’s just being nice?” Kerry asked, too scared to talk to the girl._

_“You’re never gonna know for sure unless you go talk to her,” Arryn smiled, patting Kerry on the back. “Go on.”_

_Kerry peeked into the store and the girl at the counter smiled at him again. He turned away and started to walk off, only to be stopped by Miles. “No dude, go talk to her. She obviously likes you. Plus she’s cute.” His last comment earned him a punch to the arm from his girlfriend. “Ow.” Arryn just grinned._

_“She_ is _cute, which is why I know it can’t be me she likes,” Kerry said, worrying his bottom lip._

_“You know, you’re never going to find out by standing out here. If I hadn’t gone to ask this arsehole why he kissed me, we probably wouldn’t be where we are now,” Gavin remarked, kissing Michael gently._

_“Yeah, and if I hadn’t had the balls to ask this beauty out, she’d be with some other asshole,” Miles added, getting another punch to the arm, but this time a kiss followed._

_“You’re the only asshole I wanna be with,” Arryn commented._

_“Go talk to her,” Barbara said, pushing Kerry toward the store. “Go.”_

_Kerry took a deep breath and walked in. He looked back at his friends who all had their thumbs up, encouraging him to make his move. He stepped over to the counter, and the girl turned around and grinned widely at the sight. “Uh… hi.”_

_“Hi,” she said. “Can I help you?”_

Fuck. Figures. She probably just thinks I’m a customer, _Kerry thought to himself. “Uh, I just um- came in to uh…”_

_“You’re the cute guy I’ve been seeing around the mall lately,” the girl at the counter beamed._

_“Uh-” Kerry turned around to make sure there was no one else standing behind him._

_“Yeah, I’m talking about you. I’m Louise.”_

_“Oh, uh- I’m Kerry. It’s really nice to meet you.”_

_“Nice to meet you too, Kerry. I like your name,” Louise said._

_“Thanks, I like yours too.” Kerry was internally berating himself, feeling like a complete idiot, and unsure of what to say. “Are you hungry?” he suddenly blurted out._

_“I could eat,” she said. “But my break isn’t ‘til 5:30, so how about you meet me then, and we can get some dinner?”_

_“Yeah,” Kerry squeaked. He cleared his throat. “I mean, yeah,” he said, voice a little deeper. “That sounds great. Uh, I’ll be back around 5:30 for dinner.”_

_“I don’t mean to kick you out, but I have to get back to work, unless of course you wanna buy something.”_

_“Uh…” Kerry looked around the store and realized she worked at the sunglass store. “Yeah, I totally wanna buy something.” He mentally smacked himself in the forehead._

_“Great. Let me help you pick out a pair,” Louise suggested. She stepped away from the counter, and the two picked out several different pairs before he decided on the one he liked._

_“This is the one,” Kerry pointed out, and Louise rung him up. “Thanks,” he said, taking the sunglasses from her, lingering for a moment as their hands touched, staring just a little too long. Her laughter broke his concentration. “Oh, um, thanks. I’ll see you later.”_

_“Absolutely,” Louise said, and waved bye to Kerry._

_The boy was walking on air as he met up with his friends. Kerry sighed happily. His friends could swear he was suddenly in a Disney musical, dancing around, and humming to himself._

_“Good news then?” Miles started._

_Kerry nodded his head. “We’re having dinner together.”_

_“When? Where?” Barbara asked._

_“I’m meeting her here for her break at 5:30.”_

_“And where are you gonna take her, to the food court?” Michael asked._

_Kerry suddenly panicked. “Shit, I don’t know. She just said to meet her here for her break. I assumed she meant the food court.”_

_“Kerry, you’re a fucking idiot. Do you really think she wants you to take her to the food court?” Michael chided._

_“No. Goddammit,” Kerry huffed. “Where should I take her? What if her break isn’t that long? Will I have time-?”_

_“Dude, calm down. I’m sure she’d be fine with wherever you take her. Don’t listen to Michael, he’s just being a dick,” Miles assured, clapping his hand on Kerry’s shoulder._

_“Yeah, don’t forget Michael took Gavin to the food court for their ‘first date,’” Arryn reminded._

_“But it was good food,” Gavin claimed, coming to his boyfriend’s rescue._

_“Kerry, I’m sure wherever you take her, she’ll just be glad she’s with you. Don’t worry,” Barbara reassured._

_“Thanks, guys.”_  
______________________________________________________________________________

The next morning, Michael looked like shit, more than likely due to the fact that he didn’t get in until just short of sunrise. Lindsay looked like hell warmed over too. Michael started a fresh pot of coffee, handing Lindsay a cup as he always did every morning. They drank their coffee in silence, both yawning wearily.

“You don’t look like you got much sleep last night, babe,” Michael muttered.

Lindsay flinched at the word, ‘babe.’ “Yeah? Well, I didn’t.”

Michael looked at her curiously. “Why not?”

Lindsay shook her head. “Just tossed and turned a lot last night. Had a bad dream,” she said, and sipped her coffee, not making eye contact with her husband. “What about you? You don’t look like you got much sleep last night either.”

“Uh yeah, I couldn’t sleep last night. Had a lot on my mind…” Michael answered, averting his eyes as well, focusing on his mug.

“Oh? Like what?” Lindsay asked, continuing to finish up her beverage.

“Just work stuff mostly,” Michael filled his mouth with more of the warm liquid, panic starting to fill him.

“I see… Maybe I can help. What sort of ‘work stuff,’ Michael?” The way she said his name put him on edge.

“Are you gonna take a shower? If not, I’m gonna get in,” Michael murmured, setting his mug down, and hurried into the bathroom, closing the door quickly behind him. He started the water, and got in, cursing to himself as he realized Lindsay must know something.

“Fuck. Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, _fuck!_ ” Michael kept on in the shower. “She knows. She fucking knows. How the fuck does she know? How could she know? I was careful. I-” He wracked his brain, trying to find clues as to how she could’ve found out. “She was home last night, so she couldn’t have heard me and Gavin talking. Besides, we kept our voices low, so no one should’ve heard us.” He thought about the scene when he got home. “She was asleep when I got in last night, so unless she got up in the middle of the night again…” 

He absent-mindedly washed his body, still too focused on how his wife could have figured things out. “She did say she had a bad dream; maybe she got up in the middle of the night and saw that I wasn’t there. That has to be it. Fuck. How can I explain why I wasn’t home last night without- I’ve gotta figure this shit out fast.”

Michael turned off the water, and toweled off, walking into the bedroom with the towel wrapped around his waist. Lindsay was sitting on the bed looking at the photos of their wedding. _Shit._ “Hey, you feeling any better?” He knew that was the wrong thing to ask after he said it, but it was too late to take it back.

Lindsay looked up at him with tears in her eyes, which she wiped away. “I was just looking at our wedding pictures,” she said sniffling. “You looked so handsome in your suit…”

Michael got dressed and sat beside her on the bed, having decided maybe he should just come clean. “Lindsay…”

“My turn for the shower,” she blurted, and made a beeline for the bathroom. She didn’t want to hear anything he had to say, especially if it was going to be a lie.

Michael looked through the album, and cursed himself under his breath. “I’m a fucking moron.” He grabbed his phone from the nightstand, and dialed Gavin.

“Hello?” Michael heard from the other end.

“Hey… Uh, we might have a problem.”

“What is it?” Gavin asked.

“I think Lindsay knows something, or at least suspects something. She’s been acting strange all morning, and she’s been crying, and looking through our wedding album…” Michael stood up from the bed, and made his way to the balcony, stepping outside for more privacy.

“Has she said something?” 

“Not really, but she’s been hinting at it all morning. I think she woke up late last night again and saw I wasn’t here,” Michael took a deep breath, exhaling thickly. “What if she asks me where I was last night? I don’t know what to say to her. I’m- I’m fucked, Gavin.”

If this had been any other circumstance, Gavin would’ve made a joke about Michael not quite being ‘fucked,’ but he held his tongue. “Okay, calm down, Michael. If you panic, she’ll know you’re hiding something. You’ve got to convince her things are all right with the two of you.”

“And how the fuck am I supposed to do that, Gav, huh?”

“I don’t know, Michael. I’ve got to go. I’ll see you in a bit.” Gavin hung up, and Michael was left to his own devices.

He stepped back into the room, and saw that Lindsay was getting dressed. “Hey…” He hadn’t the slightest idea of what to say to her.

She smiled, which completely threw him off. “Hey. You okay?”

“Yeah, just talking to Gavin about what we’re doing today,” Michael lied.

“Oh, okay.” She finished getting ready, including putting on a little makeup. “How do I look?”

“You look great, as always, babe.”

“Great.” She walked over to him and kissed him passionately, taking his face in her hands, which surprised him, but he melted into the kiss, matching her passion.

“Ready?” She asked.

“Yeah, um, let’s go.”  
______________________________________________________________________________

_5:30 rolled around, and Kerry was standing like an idiot outside of Louise’s work, with a bouquet of daisies in his hand. His friends had help him look nice too, wearing black slacks that were obviously too big for him, a nice blue button up, also a little too big, a black tie, and dress shoes that looked two sizes too big. In other words, he looked like a child in his father’s clothes._

_He waited as his date stepped out of the shop, and smiled. “I got these for you,” he said, handing her the flowers._

_She sneezed. “Sorry, I have allergies. But they’re very lovely,” she proclaimed, sneezing again._

_“No, I’m sorry. I didn’t even think-”_

_“Kerry, it’s okay. They’re sweet, and you’re sweet.” Louise leaned up and gave him a peck on the cheek._

_“So, what are you in the mood for? We could go somewhere close by, since I’m not sure how long you have for your break. Or if you want, we could go somewhere a little fancy. I know there’s that nice Japanese place not too far from here we could go to, or-”_

_“We could just eat at the food court, if that’s all right?” Louise said with a smile._

_Kerry nodded. Being a nervous wreck over a girl was new to him, and his palms were sweaty. He casually wiped them on his oversized pants, and offered his arm to his date. “May I?”_

_The two had a really fun time on her dinner break, and in the hour they had, they talked about all the things that interested them, including finding out they both enjoyed writing, and video games. Kerry learned that she wants to be a journalism major, and had brothers she used to play all sorts of video games with, so she knew what to do to win._

_“So, how about you pick me up tomorrow around five o’clock from here. I have the earlier shift, so I’ll be done by then. I had a really nice time,” Louise revealed, and gave Kerry a sweet kiss on the cheek. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”_

_“I’ll definitely be here,” Kerry declared. “See you then.”_

_At school the next day, Kerry was dancing through the quad on his way to meet his friends. Michael spotted him first, and pointed him out to Gavin. “Check out Kerry.”_

_“His date must have been top. He’s practically dancing,” Gavin quipped._

_“Practically? The idiot is dancing.” Michael laughed, but was truly happy for his friend._

_Miles ran up to Kerry excitedly. “Well, how’d it go? You didn’t bother to call me last night to tell me anything.”_

_“You?” Barbara chimed in. “He didn’t even call me, and I’m the one who helped him find a girlfriend.”_

_“Guys, she’s not my girlfriend yet, but things went really well last night,” Kerry confessed, grinning._

_“Well, spill,” Ray said._

_Kerry told his group of friends all about his nice dinner, and how both he and Louise had a lot in common. He told them how she went to the rival high school but didn’t care about that. He even mentioned that she loved video games and writing. He talked about the types of foods she liked and disliked, and also spoke about how she goes to church._

_“Wow, sounds like a great girl, Ker,” Miles congratulated. “I’m really happy for you, man. Hey Barbie, when’s the next time your boyfriend will be in town?”_

_“Next week, why?”_

_“We should have a party,” Miles suggested._

_“Hey, we can have it at my place. My dad won’t mind since he’s never- hardly ever home, and as long as we clean up when we’re done, he won’t care,” Michael insisted._

_“How about next weekend? You think she’ll be your girlfriend by then, Ker-bear?” Miles asked as Kerry cringed._

_“You know I hate it when you call me that,” Kerry reminded. “But uh, I hope so. I mean, I’m seeing her tomorrow and if everything goes well, then yeah, I don’t see why not.”_

_“Sweet!”_  
______________________________________________________________________________

Things were definitely out of sorts at the office; Michael was completely confused by Lindsay’s entire change in demeanor after her crying fit that morning. He was cautious though, careful how he spoke to Gavin, always keeping the conversation to stupid jokes, or carefully crafted insults. He talked to his boy the same way he’d talk to Ray, or Ryan. He noticed, however, that Geoff seemed to be giving him the stink eye, and seemed to shrink under his gaze.

Several hours passed, and everything was quiet in the AH office. Everyone seemed to be knee deep in their own projects when Ryan announced he had some good news to tell the group. Apparently his wife had just texted him to let him know he’s about to be a father again. The whole group cheered for him, giving him congratulations and praise.

“This is perfect then. Since Ryan just got some good news, I’m gonna let him pick the next Let’s Play,” Geoff proclaimed.

Ryan picked a game he thought the rest of the group would enjoy, but it turned out to be a really dud, and nothing came about it but bitchy comments, especially from Michael, Geoff and Ray about how there are other better games.

“That’s it, Ryan. I’m never letting you pick again,” Geoff joked, but with a serious tone. The group laughed as they decided to end the game, and not publish that particular Let’s Play.

“Let’s have a tournament,” Ray offered.

“I’m game,” Michael quickly answered.

“Let’s do it,” Geoff said, and the tournament began.

After hours of playtime, snide remarks, rude comments, loud banter, and annoying noises, the tournament ended, and the group broke for lunch.

Lindsay immediately grabbed Michael by the arm, and dragged him out of the office. “I wanna get barbeque today,” she told her husband, not giving him a chance to talk to Gavin, or anyone else for that matter. 

“Okay, let’s get barbeque.” They left for lunch, but not before Michael and Gavin shared a glance as they exited.

“Well, that was weird,” Geoff said to Gavin watching the Joneses leave.

“Yeah… Michael called me this morning and- he thinks Lindsay might suspect something.”

Geoff just shook his head. “I warned you. You better hope she doesn’t find out it’s you.”

Gavin lowered his head. “What do you think she’d do if she found out it was me?”

“Probably throw down. Fuck, I would, if I found out Griffy was cheating on me, I’d go after the son-of-a-bitch who was stealing my woman. I love you, Gav, but you better watch yourself. Lindsay doesn’t seem like the kinda girl who’d back down in a fight either. And you _know_ she can kick your ass. Not to mention, she’d probably tell Meg. Just watch yourself, bud.” With that, Geoff left for lunch, leaving Gavin alone in the office.

Ray came back to grab his hoodie, almost forgetting it, and saw the dejected look on Gavin’s face. “Shit going down?” he asked.

“Something like that,” Gavin answered sighing. 

“There was a _lot_ of tension today, uh, care to tell me why, or do I have to guess?”

Gavin couldn’t meet Ray’s eyes. “You could probably guess. It’s not that difficult to figure out. Hell, the whole bloody office can probably figure it out.”

Ray sighed. “Dude, you guys are dicks, you know that?”

“Yeah, I know. Do you hate us?”

“Nah. I don’t hate you, but you guys are total assholes. Look, I get it. I remember what you guys were like back then, but that shit’s over, and you’ve both got two great girls. I don’t see why you can’t just be happy with them. Man, if I could find a girl half as good as those two, I wouldn’t let her go, ever.” Ray clapped Gavin on the shoulder. “You gotta figure this shit out, man. I’m going to lunch, wanna join me?”

“Sure… But don’t touch my pizza.” Gavin laughed a little, but still felt miserable.

Lunch came and went, and everyone returned to the office full and satisfied. The tension Ray had mentioned was still thick in the air. The only ones who were oblivious to anything going on were Kdin and Caleb as they were in the other part of the office and didn’t feel the tension the same way the others did, even with sharing that part with Lindsay. Team Same Voice tried to ignore the situation, knowing something was amiss, but not asking about it; better to be out of the loop than wrapped up in it.

All Michael wanted was a moment alone with Gavin, but no matter what, someone or something kept getting in the way. Michael had to leave the office just to get away from the friction everyone was feeling. He went to the restroom, which was pretty much the only place he could be alone. He slumped against the wall, breathing in a deep breath, only to realize the nasty stench coming from one of the stalls. He almost gagged, and left, running outside to get some fresh air. He had hoped that Gavin would have followed, but there was no such luck. Eventually, he made his way back in, and the group started another Let’s Play.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Homophobia, possible slurs

_The party was a go, and all the friends gather at Michael’s house. Gavin helped Michael set everything up, getting the food put out, and the beer that Geoff got for them put into a cooler with some ice. Michael also took out his dad’s ‘secret’ alcohol that he kept above the stove._

_The partygoers arrived, gathered around the island counter to grab some food and a beer, and then made their way to the living room. All the couples sat separately from each other, two on the couch (Miles and Arryn, and Barbara and Aiden), one on the big blanket on the floor (Kerry and Louise), and one in the large chair (Michael and Gavin). Michael threw controllers at the Miles and Kerry, handed Gavin the third one, and started up a four-player game._

_“Hey, what about us?” Barbara asked annoyed._

_“You’ll get your turn. You can play the winner,” Michael said, and the game began._

_“Where did you get this? It’s like, the latest shit, and it’s not even out yet,” Miles shouted excitedly._

_“I think my dad is secretly working for a video game company,” Michael joked._

_“He probably does, but doesn’t tell you so he can get you the best and latest games,” Gavin added laughing._

_“That would be fucking awesome.”_

_The doorbell rang, and Barbara went to answer it. “Hey, Ray’s here. And he brought someone.”_

_“Hey guys, this is Amy,” Ray announced stepping into the house._

_“Hey Ray. Hey Amy,” Michael said, his attention too focused on the game._

_“Hi Amy, I’m Barbara, that’s Miles, Arryn, Kerry, Louise, Gavin,” she said as she pointed at each person. “And the idiot too busy to pay attention is Michael.”_

_“Hi everyone,” Amy smiled._

_“Food’s on the counter, there’s soda in the fridge, and beer in the cooler,” Michael mentioned, eyes never leaving the TV._

_“Fuck, I’m so close,” Miles barked, moving his controller along with the movement of his character._

_“Oh fuck that,” Michael scoffed._

_“We gotta get ‘em, Miles,” Kerry informed._

_“You mungy pricks are going down,” Gavin declared._

_The game was intense as Ray and Amy joined the party, plate of food in one hand and sodas in the other._

_“I call winner,” Ray said, sitting down with Amy on the other half of the blanket on the floor._

_“Hey, I get to play first,” Barbara snarled. “I called it first.”_

_“Wasn’t here, doesn’t count,” Ray protested._

_The game went on like this for hours, with Miles being the ultimate winner, though Michael was pretty damn close. They switched users, allowing Ray, Barbara and Arryn a chance, followed by Louise, Aiden and Amy after. The winner of the evening turned out to be Miles._

_“Fuck yeah!” Miles grunted. “Yeah! Who’s the fucking winner? That’s right, this guy. And who’re the losers? You fuckers!” Miles laughed mockingly pointing at his friends._

_“Sit your ass down,” Ray ordered, and threw various snack foods at the winner._

_“Ahh. It’s good to be the winner,” Miles said as he sat down then kissed his girlfriend._

_“Feel good about yourself?” Arryn asked, giving her boyfriend’s nipple a tweak._

_“Ye- ow,” Miles cried out rubbing his nipple. “Are we gonna play this game?”_

_“Oh, it’s so on,” Arryn pulled her boyfriend more atop her, and they started making out._

_“Jesus fuck, you’d think we were in eighth grade or something,” Ray sassed, rolling his eyes._

_“Jealous?” Miles asked._

_“Nope. I’m good.”_

_Gavin took that as a cue for him and Michael to make out as well and he started kissing his boyfriend. Barbara wanted in on the action, and she and Aiden started making out as well. Ray got up off the blanket and offered to give Amy the five cent tour of Michael’s house to get away from the ‘crazy kids’ who couldn’t keep it in their pants._

_Kerry glanced over at Louise, and noticed she seemed sick. “Hey, are you okay? Is all this making you nauseous? I’m sorry my friends can be_ total assholes _,” he said emphasizing the last two words so his friends would hear._

_Louise shook her head. “No, it’s not that. It’s them,” she said, pointing at Michael and Gavin._

_“What about them?”_

_“That’s gross. How can you just sit here and let that happen?”_

_“Um, they’re just kissing; they do it all the time. You get used to it after a while,” Kerry defended._

_“No, I mean, it’s gross because they’re two guys,” Louise cringed._

_“So?” Kerry seemed to be oblivious to his new girlfriend’s meaning._

_“I mean they’re going to hell because they’re gay.”_

_“What? No, they’re not. They’re great guys, and two of my best friends,” Kerry reasoned, a bit surprised at how she was reacting._

_“Well, I think it’s disgusting,” Louise said, and stood up from the blanket. “If you want to stay here with these two… two… disgusting people, I’m going to leave,” she added much louder, gaining the attention of everyone at the party._

_“Louise, wait,” Kerry called to her as he followed her out the door._

_“What the fuck was that about?” Arryn asked._

_“I think she doesn’t like seeing me and Gavin making out,” Michael remarked, having heard most of their conversation. “I don’t think she likes the idea of Gavin and I being together.”_

_“No, that’s ridiculous,” Barbara commented. “I’ll go see what’s really going on.” She pulled herself away from Aiden and stepped outside._

_“Louise, please don’t go. Look, if it bothers you that much we can leave. Or I could ask them not to do that while you’re here,” Kerry offered._

_“What’s going on?” Barbara asked interrupting._

_“It’s nothing. I think she wants to go home,” Kerry interjected._

_“No, I don’t think it’s right for two boys to be kissing,” Louise corrected._

_“What?” Barbara asked dumbfounded. “Why? What’s wrong with it?”_

_“It’s disgusting and wrong, and they’re going to go to hell for it.”_

_Barbara scoffed. “Uh, no they’re not. Why would you even say that?”_

_“I’m sorry Kerry, but I just can’t stay,” Louise said walking away from the house._

_“Sorry, Barbie,” Kerry uttered then followed Louise to the sidewalk. “Just wait and I can ask Miles to take you home.”_

_“All right, fine,” Louise said, and breathed a heavy sigh._

_Barbara just glared at her and shook her head before going back inside. “Kerry, you need to have a talk with your girlfriend,” she said as Kerry reentered the house._

_“Yeah, I will. Miles, could you please take her home?” Kerry pleaded._

_Miles looked at Arryn who shrugged. “Yeah, I guess.”_

_“Thanks.”_  
______________________________________________________________________________

Michael and Gavin, though unable to talk in person, texted back and forth about what to do with Lindsay.

> Michael [2:32pm]: What the fuck are we gonna do?
> 
> Gavin [2:33pm]: I don’t know, but how are we going to see each other with Lindsay not letting you out of her sight?
> 
> Michael [2:34pm]: I dunno, but I’ve gotta do something. Maybe I can tell her I have to stay late ‘cause I’m gonna work on a Rage Quit tonight.
> 
> Gavin [2:36pm]: What if she insists on staying with you?
> 
> Michael [2:37pm]: I’ll just have to convince her to go home.
> 
> Gavin [2:41pm]: And how will you do that?
> 
> Michael [2:43pm]: No idea, but I’ve gotta figure something out. Oh, btw, did you tell Geoff about us?
> 
> Gavin [2:55pm]: Yeah. I needed to talk to someone about this, and Geoff has always been there for me. He’s like a dad, so I told him.
> 
> Michael [2:56pm]: What did he say?
> 
> Gavin [2:59pm]: That I need to figure out what I really want before someone gets hurt.
> 
> Michael [3:13pm]: Yeah, well I think that ship has sailed.
> 
> Gavin [3:15pm]: Maybe we should just tell her.
> 
> Michael [3:25pm]: ‘Cause that would go over so well, right?
> 
> Gavin [3:29pm]: If we tell her now, it’ll save her the heartache.
> 
> Michael [4:12pm]: I don’t know if I can.
> 
> Gavin [4:13pm]: Michael, we have to do something. If she suspects, she’s going to figure it out, and then what will we do?
> 
> Michael [4:30pm]: I need to see you.
> 
> Gavin [4:39pm]: I know. What if we meet later tonight? Or if you stay to work, I could come back.
> 
> Michael [4:41pm]: I’ll go home first then tell her I want to work on Rage Quit and come back alone. Meet me here around nine.  
> 

The day ended, and everyone left for their respective homes. Gavin went home, expecting to be alone, but when he walked in, he was surprised. “Hey baby,” Meg said, hugging and kissing her man.

“Meg, I didn’t expect you to be home so soon. I thought you were going to be there for another couple of days.”

“Nah. I decided to come home early to see you,” she said, kissing him deeply. “Didja miss me?”

“Of course I did. Did you have fun?”

“Yep. I did a little cosplay too,” Meg grinned. “You should’ve seen me; I looked hot.”

Gavin took his girlfriend in his arms suggestively. “Oh, well, you care to show me?”

Meg took him to their bedroom for a little cosplaying of their own.

Back at the Jones residence, Michael made dinner for he and his wife, and the silence between them was deafening. He looked at her every once in a while to judge the look on her face, but she managed to keep the same look: deadpanned. He cleaned up the dishes, and went to sit on the couch alone. She followed him, sitting beside him, then after a moment, snuggled up to him. He carefully wrapped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her closer, kissing the top of her head.

“Do you love me?” She suddenly asked.

Michael pulled her even closer, if that were possible. “Of course I do.”

“Are you happy with me? With us?”

“Of course I am. Linds, I love you, and I love us,” Michael reassured her.

“Promise?”

“Yeah, I promise…” He did love her, he wasn’t lying about that. But she wasn’t the only one he loved.

“Can we go to bed? I just wanna be with you right now,” Lindsay asked, getting up off the couch, and taking Michael by the hands. “Please?”

Michael couldn’t say no to that beautiful face. “I’ll be right there,” he said, giving her a smile. Once she was in the room, he pulled out his phone to text Gavin, but noticed there was already a text from him.

> Gavin [8:03pm]: Sorry Michael, but I won’t be able to see you tonight. Meg came home early.
> 
> Michael [8:27pm]: That’s just as well, ‘cause I don’t think I’ll be able to leave tonight. See you at work tomorrow.  
> 

Michael deleted his texts, and followed his wife to the bedroom.  
______________________________________________________________________________

_A couple weeks went by and the gang hadn’t seen much of Kerry outside of school. In school, he was quiet, and didn’t seem to say much, even after he was asked about what had happened at the party. Kerry simply said Louise wasn’t feeling too well, and had to leave, although he knew his friends knew the real story. They let him be though, knowing their friend really liked this girl, and wanted to give him a chance._

_But as the weeks went on, Kerry seemed to distance himself from his friends. Even at school, things were different. He still sat with them at lunch, but he rarely seemed to speak unless spoken to. His friends really started to get worried for him, but whenever they’d say something about it, or about his girlfriend, he’d conveniently have to leave._

_“This is bullshit,” Michael started. “That bitch is taking our friend away from us.”_

_“Michael, don’t call her that,” Gavin begged. “She’s not a bitch.”_

_“Yeah she is. If she can’t handle two guys kissing- I mean, what the fuck is that? It’s not like we’re hurting anybody, especially her; or even her goddamn relationship,” Michael boomed._

_“Yeah, but that doesn’t mean you need to call her names,” Gavin reminded._

_“Guys, Kerry really likes this girl, and he feels like he can’t be with her and hang with us,” Miles said._

_“Like I said, that’s bullshit! He shouldn’t have to fucking choose between his friends and that bit-” Michael stopped before saying that word as Gavin had glared at him. “His girlfriend.”_

_“No, but he’s going to anyway ‘cause he really likes her,” Barbara added._

_“Well, it’s fucked up. She shouldn’t-”_

_“It doesn’t matter,” Miles interrupted. “When you like someone, you’ll do anything for them. Even worse when you love them, and I wouldn’t be surprised if he already loved her. I know I’d do anything for Arryn, and I know you’d do anything for Gavin, right? So we gotta remember that he’s going through the same thing.”_

_“Michael, you gotta just let him do his own thing. When he’s ready, he’ll be back,” Ray spoke wisely._

_Michael scoffed. “And how would you fucking know?”_

_“‘Cause that’s how it always happens.”_

_After school, Gavin went to Michael’s house, but their alone time was interrupted by Michael’s anger. “How can anybody fucking think what we have is wrong? I just don’t fucking get people.”_

_“Michael, love, you need to calm down.”_

_“How the fuck am I supposed to calm down when that_ bitch _practically hates us and thinks we’re disgusting?”_

_“Michael, please stop calling her that.”_

_“Why the fuck shouldn’t I? She’s destroying the group!” Michael was breathing quick and hard, and Gavin sat him down and rubbed his back gently. “She’s gonna take him and turn him into whatever the fuck she is, and that’ll be it.”_

_“Boy, you really need to relax. Let me help you feel better,” Gavin suggested, leading Michael upstairs to his room. It took some time, but he finally got his boy to relax, and they had a pleasant, if not somewhat rough moment._

_Later that evening, Michael got a phone call from Kerry. “Hey, Michael, can we talk?”_

_“Yeah, we can talk. What’s up?”_

_“Do you hate me?” Kerry asked, sadness filling his voice._

_“What the fuck? No, I don’t hate you. You’re my friend. It’s your girlfriend I don’t like,” Michael said, regretting the last part after he said it._

_“Yeah, I know, and I don’t blame you. I tried talking to her about it, but she kept telling me that her faith is the reason she can’t accept you and Gavin.”_

_“Do you love this girl, Ker?”_

_Kerry sighed. “I think I do. I told her I do, and she made me promise I wouldn’t talk to you guys anymore.”_

_“Wow. What a- But you’re talking to me. What if she finds out?” Michael hadn’t meant to sound as vindictive as he did, but it was too late to go back. There was silence for a minute, and Michael thought Kerry hung up. “Kerry?”_

_“Yeah, I’m here.”_

_“I thought you might’ve hung up. I didn’t mean to sound like a total dick, but she pisses me off.”_

_“I don’t know what to do, Michael. I love her, but you’re one of my best friends; both of you are, and I feel like a complete ass right now.” Kerry sounded like he was crying a little bit._

_“Ker, I’m not gonna tell you how to handle your relationship, but, if she’s making your feel like shit, then maybe… maybe you should tell her.” Michael wanted to say ‘break up with her’ but he knew that wasn’t what his friend wanted to hear._

_“Yeah, I should…”_

_“Dude, she needs to know how this is making you feel. If she cares about you, she’ll listen.”_

_“Thanks, Michael. Tell Gavin I’m sorry about all this, and I want you to know that I do think you guys are great together. I always have, and I hope you two stay together forever.”_

_“Thanks, Kerry. Me too, but don‘t tell him I said that.”_  
______________________________________________________________________________

A reasonable amount of time had passed (approximately three months) since Michael and Gavin had almost been caught, and had taken that time to cool off, giving their women the attention they felt they deserved. Lindsay had started feeling somewhat hopeful that what she had witnessed that one night was just that, one night. However, she hadn’t exactly given Michael a chance to leave her sight much, clinging just a bit, too afraid she may lose her husband. 

She had often thought about confronting him about the affair, maybe even presenting him with a divorce since she wasn’t the type of woman to take shit, but she loved him too much and decided to let it go, and give him a chance. She had talked to Meg, not specifically, about a possible affair, giving her plenty of hypothetical situations, although she never mentioned Gavin’s name. Meg would often tell her not to worry, and that Michael loved her. After all, she’d seen it herself all the times the four of them spent time together.

Lindsay knew of Michael’s history with Gavin, he never kept that from her. He used to tell her when they dated that she saved him from terrible heartache. So why would he be going back to him, even just once? Had it just been once, she wondered constantly, but put it out of her head, convincing herself it had to have been. She never checked his phone though. She felt like she had to be able to trust him, even a little. 

The day came when she realized she had to stop clinging and see if she could trust Michael again. She had to know, and she knew the only way to do that was to loosen the leash she had on him.

“I’m gonna go home early tonight,” she told Michael at the office. “Are you staying to do your show?”

Michael was rather surprised, but nodded. “Yeah. Gav and I need to do an episode of Play Pals. Are you sure?”

“Yeah, I’m sure. I’m exhausted. I wanna get to bed early,” she assured him smiling. 

“Okay babe. I’ll see you when I get home,” Michael said, and kissed his wife goodbye.

Michael was shocked. For the last few months, Lindsay seemed to have a tight hold of him, hardly ever going home early unless they left at the same time, or he didn’t have any extra projects to do. He glanced over at Gavin who was sitting at his computer finishing up something he and Geoff had been working on when Gavin lived with them. 

Ray was still there too, and whistled. “Well, it looks like the old ball and chain is letting you off the hook tonight.”

“Yeah…” Michael pondered why for a moment then shrugged. “Guess she’s feeling better, or some shit like that.”

“Well, I’m heading out. Joel and I are gonna go see a movie later,” Ray mentioned as he stood up from his desk.

“You know the rumors from the internet are saying you two are secretly dating, right?” Gavin suddenly brought up with a smirk.

Ray rolled his eyes. “Yeah, I’ve heard them all. Joel likes to read them to me whenever we hang out.”

“Have you ever wondered maybe he actually wants to fuck you?” Michael joked as Ray threw one of his many plush toys at Michael’s head.

“Yeah, he wants to fuck me, and we’re gonna go back to his place after just to do that,” Ray said sarcastically. 

“Don’t let the internet hear you,” Gavin quipped.

“Yeah, and you two play nice while I’m gone,” Ray chided, and left the office.

“We always play nice, Ray,” Michael yelled out the door.

Gavin approached Michael, a seductive look on his face, and closed the door once Michael’s head was back inside. “It’s the first time we’ve been alone in a really long time, Michael,” the Brit said pressing both his hands against the door, trapping Michael.

Michael grinned. “You work fast, don’t you?”

“It’s been too long since I’ve touched you,” Gavin growled, kissing Michael fervently though he pulled away.

“We promised we wouldn’t do this here, remember? _You_ promised Geoff, so…”

“So we’ll go somewhere else,” Gavin suggested.

“I was worried since we hadn’t done this in a while that you’d wanna stop,” Michael admitted.

“I never thought Lindsay would give us another opportunity, but I’m glad she did. Do you think this means she doesn’t suspect anything anymore?”

“I hope so. It’s been hell not being with you.”

“Let’s go to our usual place then,” Gavin commanded, and Michael obliged.

“But you’ll have to drive since Lindsay took her car, and I don’t have mine.”

The boys left, shutting off all the equipment and lights, and drove down to their favorite seedy motel. They got their room, and ran inside with a sense of urgency. They spent the next several hours rediscovering each other.

“I’ve missed you,” Michael purred snuggling up into Gavin’s arm, laying his head on his chest.

“I have too, Michael,” Gavin said pulling him closer.

“I think that maybe I should tell Lindsay the truth,” Michael stated after about ten minutes. “I don’t want to keep lying to her anymore. I think we both need to come clean. It was fun for a while, when neither of them knew, but now one suspects, and it’s only a matter of time before she figures it out.”

“I know you’re right Michael, but- I know if I say what I’m thinking I’d be an absolute arsehole; but I like having both of you… you _and_ Meg.”

“I understand, Gav, better than you think, but my dad and Geoff are both right. Someone’s gonna get hurt, and it won’t be good for anybody in the long run. There is one thing though; I know I don’t want to give this or you up.”

“Neither do I, Michael. Neither do I.”


	9. Chapter 9

_The rest of senior year seemed to fly by, and though friendships were tested, and loves were lost, the group managed to stay strong. Kerry was an unfortunate example of lost love. He loved Louise, but when it came to his best friends, it took all his strength to give up the girl. In the long run, he knew he was better for it, but it still hurt. Barbara vowed to find Kerry another girlfriend, but Kerry had to remind her what happened the last time she tried, and discouraged it._

_Prom night and the group were getting ready for the big night. The guys all gathered at Gavin’s to get ready while the ladies met up at a salon to get pampered. Geoff and Griffon helped the guys get into their tuxes and Griffon showed them how to tie their bow ties._

_“I have to tie this for Geoff too,” Griffon mentioned putting the finishing touches on Gavin’s tie, while the other boys made several attempts to get it right. “No, boys, like this,” she said untying Gavin’s to once again, for the fifth time, show them how it’s done._

_“How the fuck do you do this,” Miles barked, tangling his hands and making strange knots in his tie._

_Griffon laughed, and very slowly showed Miles what to do. “Okay sweetie, now first you take the tie in hand like so,” she instructed, adjusting one end to be longer than the other. “Now, you loop this end around this one like this,” then she looped the longer side around the shorter one. “Are you with me so far?”_

_Miles nodded, but still wasn’t getting it. “No. I don’t get the loopy thing.”_

_The other boys laughed. “Come on, Miles, it’s not_ that _fucking difficult,” Michael said, carefully following Griffon’s instructions._

_Griffon started over to help Miles, as well as Kerry and Gavin understand it better. “This is why I never tie my own ties,” Geoff chuckled, taking a swig from the bottle he was holding._

_“Okay boys, for the umpteenth time, follow my lead,” Griffon stated, using Miles’ tie as the example._

_“We should’ve just gone with the clip-ons. It would’ve been so much easier,” Kerry cried, about ready to give up completely._

_“You guys are such crybabies,” Michael scoffed, having finished his bow tie._

_Griffon turned to look at the train wreck that was Michael’s tie and giggled. “Yeah, that looks… great,” she snorted, laughing out the last word._

_“What? I think it looks right,” Michael said, staring at his reflection in the bathroom mirror._

_“Yeah, but then,” Griffon gently tugged the loose part of the tie, and it completely fell apart. “I can do that.”_

_“Fuck. Griff, can you just tie them all for us, otherwise we’re gonna be late.” She did, thankfully, and Michael, Gavin, Miles, Kerry, and Ray were well on their way to prom._

_The ladies met up with the guys at the restaurant, Arryn looking like a goddess in a long black and silver dress that hung on one shoulder, wrapping around her slender figure. The two colors swirled down the front and back of the dress. Her hair was done up with curls, and pulled into a messy bun, with ringlets accenting her lovely face. Barbara was in a golden yellow strapless floor length dress with a bow accenting the chest area and the length hugging her beautiful curves. Her hair also curled, was pulled half up, accented with clips covered in baby’s breath flowers, ringlets also hanging around her face. She was playing the role of Kerry’s date for the evening, as her boyfriend from Canada couldn’t come down for the event. Ray’s date, Amy, wore a short strapless blue dress that poofed somewhat at the bottom, the top section was black lace, and a silk blue wrap that tied into a big bow around her waist. Her hair was dark and fully down, full of large curls that carefully covered her shoulders. All three ladies were a vision of beauty._

_“Whoa!” Miles practically shouted at the gorgeous sight of his girlfriend. “I knew you were beautiful before, but holy shit, you look absolutely incredible.”_

_“Like a goddess,” Barbara chimed in, giving her best friend a wink. “And what about me?”_

_“You look great too, Barb.”_

_“Yeah you do,” Kerry said, almost drooling. “I never knew you were so beautiful.”_

_“Aww, Kerry, thank you. You’re so sweet,” she smiled, planting a small kiss to his cheek._

_“And thank you, babe. You look great too. Did you tie this yourself?” Arryn asked, her fingers playing with his bow tie._

_“Nah, Griffon helped us with them.”_

_Ray’s eyes went wide at the sight of his date. “Wow… you look amazing.”_

_“Thanks,” Amy said smiling shyly. “You look really nice too.”_

_Gavin and Michael, feeling a little left out of the conversation, turned to each other. “Oh my god, Gavin, you look so hot,” Michael purred, growling suggestively._

_“Oh Michael, you look so sexy,” Gavin smirked, pulling his boyfriend closer for a mini-make out session._

_“You boys look great too,” Barbara admitted, smacking the boys jokingly on the back of their heads._

_“Let’s eat; I’m starving,” Kerry suggested, and the gang entered the restaurant. Dinner went really well, each being very careful about not making a mess on their nice clothes. They shared a dessert afterwards, while Gavin got a text._

> _Geoff [7:12pm]: The limo should be at the restaurant by the time you guys get done eating. Griffon and I wanted to surprise you with this gift, so don’t fucking waste it. Have fun!  
> _

_Gavin’s eyes widened and he squealed with delight._

_“What?” Michael asked curiously._

_“I’ve got a surprise for everyone when we’re ready to go,” Gavin squeaked, and everyone became curious._

_“What is it?” Ray asked._

_“You’ll see when we’re done.”_

_“Well, I’m ready whenever you guys are,” Miles declared, quickly getting out of his seat and pulled open Arryn’s chair and helped her up._

_“Why thank you. You’re such a gentleman,” she jested though somewhat sincerely._

_“Anything for my lady.”_

_“So what’s this surprise, Gav?” Michael pondered._

_The group of friends made their way out to the parking lot, and a man in a chauffer’s outfit held up a sign with Gavin’s name on it. Their eyes widened with joy. Gavin walked up to the man and told him who he was and the group entered the limo._

_“Holy shit, this is awesome!”_

_“When did you do this, Gav?”_

_“How come you didn’t tell us?”_

_“How much did this cost?”_

_Gavin grinned. “It was a surprise from Geoff and Griff. I was just as surprised as you were.”_

_“Going to the prom in style,” Michael said, wrapping his arm around his boyfriend as the driver headed to prom.  
_ ______________________________________________________________________________

The next couple weeks Lindsay continued to keep her cool, not acting suspicious, or seeming to have any doubt that her husband could be anything other than faithful. She decided it was time to invite her best friends over for a night of wild drunkenness. She convinced Michael that the four of them should have a party at their place.

“Yeah, sounds like a great idea, babe. We could make a weekend thing since we have the next couple days off,” Michael suggested, making lunch for he and Lindsay.

“Ooh, that’ll be fun,” she said, coming around behind him and wrapping her arms around his chest. She planted little kisses on his neck, which made him giggle. 

“Lindsay, I’m trying to make us lunch. Don’t you wanna like, eat?”

“We can eat later. Maybe I’m hungry for something else.”

Michael hadn’t seen his wife this frisky since their wedding night. It reminded him of the first time they were ever together. He turned around and kissed her deeply. “I haven’t seen you like this since- well for a long while.”

“What can I say? You’ve just been really hot lately.”

Michael raised an eyebrow. “How have I- okay, so I’ve been hot, but I’m always hot, and you haven’t been this grabby in fucking forever.”

She pinched his ass and he yelped. “That is one hot ass.”

“Lindsay, what the fuck? My grilled cheese is gonna burn.”

“I’m trying to be sexy with you, and you’re worried about your food?”

“No… but I don’t want them to burn.” Michael turned off the stove, and pulled her close. “There. Now you can be sexy.” He grinned, and pulled her down onto the dining room table.

Later in the day, Michael called Gavin to invite him and Meg over for their party weekend while Lindsay was out getting all the amenities for a night of fun and possible debauchery.

The four of them ordered pizza so they’d have something in their stomachs before turning the night into an alcohol-induced haze.

“Okay, I’ve got an idea,” Lindsay slightly slurred, but was still understandable.

“What’s your idea?” Gavin asked, knowing he had ideas of his own.

“How drunk are you two?” She asked the two boys.

“Why? I’d say I’m pretty fucking drunk. What about you, Gav?”

“Cheers mate.”

“That means he’s sloshed,” Michael whispered sloppily at Lindsay.

She giggled, as did Meg. “So, you two boys would say you’re pretty fucked up, right?”

“Ffffffuck yeah!”

Everybody laughed. “Good,” Lindsay said, and whispered something into Meg ear and they both giggled. 

“You think they will?” Meg asked.

“I bet they totally will.”

“What will we do?” Michael asked, setting up another round of shots for the foursome. 

“Let’s take these shots first, and then I’ll tell you. Better yet, let’s take another round after that, and then I’ll tell you.”

Michael nodded and the four hit back the shots, and Michael clumsily poured four more, spilling most of the contents on the floor. “Goddammit.” Another laugh roared through the group.

“Okay, one, two, free,” Michael giggled, and they knocked back the shots. “I said free.”

“I’m Free,” Gavin slurred laughing stupidly.

“Yes, you are.” Michael patted Gavin’s back, and he almost dropped his beer.

“Okay, guys, you ready to find out what I said to Meg?”

“What? Oh yeah. Tell us.”

Lindsay looked at Meg and grinned mischievously. “Okay. This is sort of a truth or dare situation, but without the truth. We dare you… to make out right here, the two of you.”

“Whaaat? Why would we do that?”

“‘Cause we think that would be so hot.”

Michael looked at Gavin through slits, his eyes barely open, and shrugged. “Wanna?”

Gavin didn’t answer with words; he simply leaned over and started kissing Michael intensely. Meg’s eyes widened as Gavin pushed Michael down onto the floor, lying atop him, kissing him even deeper.

“Holy shit, you weren’t kidding, Lindsay. This is really hot,” Meg agreed, biting her bottom lip seductively. 

“I told you it would be. I’ll bet they’re even hotter when they _fuck_.” Lindsay purposely emphasized the last word, waiting to see if the boys react, but being as drunk as they were, and as into the kiss as they’d gotten, they weren’t listening to anything. 

If the boys weren’t careful, they’d probably fuck right there. They were certainly touching each other as if they were completely alone, until something brought them out of it. Meg squealed excitedly, and Gavin suddenly remembered he and Michael weren’t alone. He pulled off of Michael, a trail of saliva followed, as he faced his girlfriend. 

Lindsay laughed loudly, which caused everyone to give her their attention. “What’s so funny?” Meg asked, arching a brow.

“You and them. They’re all over each other, and you’re over there touching yourself.”

“And what about you? It was your idea,” Meg commented. “I’ll bet you were getting off too.”

Michael sat back up as Gavin moved away from him, but not too far away. “Were you enjoying that, Linds?”

“Maybe…” she grinned and bit her bottom lip.

“Oh my god, you were. You like watching Gav and me?”

Lindsay’s heart suddenly started pounding loudly in her ear, and a look of panic fell on her face. “What? Why would you say that?”

“Whoa, what? Why the freak out?” Michael asked face scrunched in confusion. 

“Nothing.” Her face relaxed, and she smiled.

“Okay…”  
______________________________________________________________________________

_Despite any issues with the school staff, and the typical bullies, Michael and Gavin had a wonderful time at prom, as did their friends. Most of the time, when the songs were fast, the friends would dance as a group, or at least close enough together in a circle; but when a slow song would come on, the group would couple up and circle around the two boys so the school staff wouldn’t see them. They had almost been caught a few times, but managed to get away with it for the most part._

_Graduation day arrived and the group prepared for the big moment. At Gavin’s house, the friends put their final touches to their caps, adding their own personal flair, be it names, words, drawings, or pictures, each made with glue and glitter, paint, or other crafting products. Gavin and Michael made theirs cheesy, gluing a picture of themselves they took while back visiting Jersey, with the words ‘I love Michael’ and ‘I love Gavin’ in multi-colored glitter._

_Miles taped a copy of his favorite old video game, with drawings of his favorite video game characters, and a small picture of he and Arryn from one of those photo booths at the fair. Arryn made her really pretty with all the friends names each written with a different color glitter, with hers and Miles’ names in a big heart. Kerry drew a picture of his friends from an old photo they took back from freshman year, but added Gavin into the mix as if he were taped to the side of the original picture. Barbara decided to make hers with her favorite types of jokes: puns._

_They slipped into their gowns, and pictures were taken. Geoff snapped photos of the kids individually, and then in small groups, and eventually in the full group. Griffon kept making sure the kids had everything they needed, being the ‘mother’ to the group._

_“Okay kids, one more big group shot,” Geoff announced, as the kids gathered together in the living room. Ray, Barbara and Kerry kneeled in the front, while Miles, Arryn, Michael, and Gavin stood behind them._

_“I can’t believe you’re already graduating,” Griffon said to the friends as Geoff snapped a few pictures._

_“Griff, they have to grow up some time, otherwise we’ll be stuck with these assholes for the rest of our lives.”_

_“We’re stuck with Gavin for at least a few more years, which means we’re probably stuck with the rest of these little shits as well.”_

_“Yep,” Michael merely said. “I know you’ll be stuck with me, and probably Ray.”_

_“Yep,” Ray agreed._

_“You won’t be seeing me too much, except maybe during vacation, ‘cause I got accepted into NYU,” Kerry mentioned, and the friends all stopped what they were doing and stared at him._

_“When we’re you gonna tell us?” Miles asked completely surprised._

_“Well, I wasn’t sure if I was gonna accept it or not, because I had other schools I thought about going to, but NYU would be the best one if I really wanna get into writing.”_

_“Holy shit, dude!” Ray exclaimed. “That’s fucking awesome. Congrats, man.”_

_“Thanks.”_

_“Yeah, Ker, congratulations!” Michael said, hugging his friend._

_“We’re really proud of you!” Barbara remarked, also hugging Kerry._

_“Wish you had told us sooner, we could have planned a big celebration,” Griffon said, hugging him as well._

_Gavin’s turn and he squeezed the smaller friend tightly. “That’s top, mate. Cheers and congratulations!”_

_Arryn was next, a few happy tears slid down her face. “We’re really gonna miss you, Kerry,” she said, hugging him tight. “You better text us every day so we know what’s going on, and send us pics of New York ‘cause I’d love to see what it’s like there.”_

_“It’s nice, if you live in a nice area,” Ray mentioned._

_Geoff gave the boy a half hug, and patted him on the back. “When you become a famous writer, you better not forget us little people,” he jested._

_“No worries, Geoff. I’ll never forget you or any of you…”_

_It was finally Miles turn. At first Miles didn’t move, knowing he was about to lose his best friend in the whole world, but then he grinned widely and tackled the smaller man to the floor. “I’m gonna miss your ass, so you better fucking call me and Skype me and all that shit, you hear me, Kerbear?”_

_“Miles, you know I will. You’re all my best friends, and I wouldn’t fucking dream of it.”_

_The group moved in closer for a big group hug, surrounding Kerry._

_After they pulled apart, Barbara, who was very happy for her friend, suddenly seemed really down._

_“Hey Barb, what’s the matter?” Arryn asked, hugging her friend. “Are you sad Kerry’s leaving?”_

_“Well, yeah, but that’s not why- I have something to tell you guys too. I’m- going to Canada for school.”_

_Their collective eyes widened. “What?”_

_“Since when?” Kerry asked._

_“Why didn’t you tell us?” Arryn wondered._

_“Here we go again,” Ray joked._

_“I was, but I was just waiting to tell you guys later; but then Kerry announced that he was leaving, so I figured I should tell you now.”_

_The group surrounded Barbara this time in a huge group hug._

_“Okay, before we move from this position, is there anyone else leaving the Texas area to go to school?” Miles asked. They all looked back and forth at each other, but everyone else shook their heads. “Okay, good. So, let’s make this the best summer we’ve ever had since it seems to be our last one, at least for the next four years.” The friends nodded, and finally left for the graduation ceremony._  
______________________________________________________________________________

The four friends woke up the following morning, three of them sporting a hangover. Well, mostly the two boys as they had the most to drink. Lindsay woke up with a massive headache, but otherwise she wasn’t too bad off, and Meg seemed fine, having probably had the least to drink. 

Michael sat up from the floor, eyes hurting, head pounding, and stomach churning and groaned. “What the fuck time is it?” He mumbled, his own voice sounding like a screeching vulture in his ears. 

“Shhh…” Gavin hushed, grabbing his head, and whimpering.

“Oh fuck, my head is killing me,” Michael practically whispered, trying to stand up, only to fall back down. 

Meg came in from the bathroom with aspirin and some water for the idiots, and gave it to them. “Here, take this, you’ll feel better.”

“Shhh…” Gavin shushed again, taking the items from Meg.

“Aww, my poor baby,” she comforted, though said it purposely loud enough to bother them.

“Shut up,” Michael cried out, and then groaned again from the sound of his voice. “Fuck.”

“Take the aspirin, and it won’t be so bad,” Meg said, a little quieter.

Both boys popped the pills, and downed the glasses of water. Meg went to the kitchen and got them refills. “Drink more water, and your hangovers will go away faster.” 

Lindsay finally stumbled in from the bedroom and plopped down on the couch. “How long before the headache goes away?”

“Shhh…”

“You shush, Gavin. Maybe you shouldn’t have drank so much last night,” Lindsay sniped, practically biting his head off.

“Someone’s in a fucking bitchy mood this morning,” Michael bit back, coming to Gavin’s defense.

“Sorry. My head is fucking killing me, and I feel like shit.”

“Yeah, it’s called a fucking hangover. We all got one.”

“Not me,” Meg smirked. “I know better to drink water while drinking alcohol so I don’t feel like shit the next morning. All you guys seemed to wanna do was get drunk.”

“But that’s the best part about getting drunk,” Michael responded, finally standing up and fell back onto the couch next to Lindsay. He gave Gavin a kick to his side to get him to sit up. “Get up.”

“No, I want to sleep more.”

“Get up, bitch.”

Gavin whined, and turned over, and Michael kicked him a little harder. “No…”

“I’m gonna go take a shower. I think I’ll feel better after that,” Lindsay announced, and made her way to the bathroom. 

“Are you boys hungry?” Meg asked standing up from the chair she was sitting on.

“Not yet. My stomach feels like shit, and I think I’m gonna puke first,” Michael answered.

Gavin rolled over to face her. “No, I just want to sleep.”

“What do you guys wanna do after you feel better today?”

“How about a Mario tournament?” Michael suggested.

“I’m down. Gavin?”

“Yeah, s’fine.”

“I think I’ll go use the other shower since you guys are too busy being hung over. I’ll be back in a little while.”

Michael kicked Gavin again, and he finally sat up. “Leave me alone, Michael. I don’t want to be awake right now.” His eyes hung low, and he slumped his head.

“Gav, will you get up here,” Michael bellowed with a hushed tone, and pulled Gavin up by his collar. He laid his head on his shoulder. “That was some crazy shit last night, huh? Why do you think Lindsay wanted to see us kiss?”

“Maybe because she was getting off on it,” Gavin joked, but Michael didn’t laugh.

“What if she did? I mean, Meg apparently did, but Lindsay was acting strange last night. I don’t fucking get why she would ask us to do that though. I feel like there’s something I’m fucking missing, and I can’t put my goddamn finger on it.”

“Maybe she knows about us…” Gavin partially joked, but after saying it, realized that could be a real possibility.

“Fuck. What if she does? What if she was testing us; to see how far we’d go? Fuck. You realize we totally almost fucked right here last night had your girlfriend not squealed the way she did.”

Gavin grinned a little. “I absolutely would have if she hadn’t stopped us,” he admitted. “And I don’t think they would’ve minded too much.”

“Yeah, I kinda noticed… Do you think Meg knows, or suspects?”

Gavin shook his head. “Not the way she reacted last night; but I’m starting to think Lindsay knows.”

“Should we just come clean then?”

“It’s hard to judge that by what happened last night. I think we should just wait to see what happens next.”

“We’ll still meet in our usual spot though, right?”

“Of course, Michael.”


	10. Chapter 10

_The friends spent their last summer together doing everything they had always talked about doing. They went to Six Flags together, the water park, camping, and a whole bunch of other activities they could think of. Their entire summer was spent together, even if they just hung out at one of their homes and played video or board games._

_Time slipped by fast, and July was suddenly here. They threw Barbara a huge party since it would be the last time they would be able to pamper her for such a huge birthday. They combined her birthday with a big July 4 celebration, extending her birthday into a birth week, taking her to see fireworks, and making every day for that week the best day she could ever have. Her boyfriend had come down for the summer too, and he treated her like a queen._

_Further into the month, they gave Michael a birthday party he would never forget. Michael didn’t want a whole week like Barbie had, but he enjoyed the weekend they had planned, and had the best birthday he had ever had with his friends. Gavin had other plans, more private plans for his boy, taking him away from their group just for a few days, and giving him the best day ever. Gavin even surprised him with a ring, not an engagement ring, but a promise ring, promising that when they were ready, they would get engaged, and someday get married. Michael had given Gavin something similar on Gavin’s birthday, so Gavin wanted to show his love just how much he wanted to be with him._

_The rest of the summer went by way too fast, and before they knew it, it was time for two of their friends to depart, one heading to New York, the other heading up to Canada. The group all piled up in Miles’ car one last time, and took their best friends to the airport. They had made things easier for everyone and booked their flights for the same day so the goodbyes wouldn’t be too difficult._

_“I’m gonna miss you so much,” Arryn said, squeezing her best friend while the two ladies sobbed on each other’s shoulders._

_“Not as much as I’m gonna miss you,” Barbara replied, sniffling and holding Arryn tighter._

_The boys’ goodbye wasn’t quite as heartbreaking._

_“Kerry, man, I’m gonna miss the fuck outta you,” Miles said, giving his best bud a quick but crushing hug._

_“You better fucking visit,” Michael said, also giving Kerry a quick hug._

_“You know I will,” Kerry said, pulling away from Michael._

_Gavin pushed Michael out of the way, and hugged Kerry tightly. “You better Skype with us all the time.”_

_Kerry grunted, having a little trouble breathing. “I will.” Gavin finally released him and he breathed heavily._

_“Guess it’s my turn. Take care of yourself, and be careful in New York. I used to live there, and it’s not all it’s cracked up to be. But I know that NYU is awesome, so have a great fucking time there,” Ray said, giving Kerry’s hand a slap, and giving him a ‘guy’ hug._

_“Yeah, I’ll be careful,” Kerry smiled._

_Barbara and Arryn turned their attention to the boys, both ladies had tears in their eyes. “I’m going to miss you so much, Kerry,” Barbara whined, hugging the smaller man tightly._

_“I’ll miss you too, Barb, you know I will; and you know, where you’re going, we’ll be kinda close to each other. I could take a train to come see you, or you could come see me.”_

_“We’ll definitely have to do that,” Barbara said, finally letting go._

_“We’ll miss you too, Barbie,” the rest of the guys said simultaneously, gathering around the blonde, and hugging her in a huge group hug._

_“I’ll miss you boys so much. My favorite boys…”_

_Arryn gave Kerry a big hug. “You know Miles and I expect you to call us every day since we’re now living together,” she said, giving him a kiss to his cheek. “Every single day, okay?”_

_“I will, Arryn, I promise.”_

_The announcement for Kerry’s plane boarding came over the loudspeaker, and both friends took that as their cue to enter further into the airport, waving their final goodbyes to their friends, and parted ways at their particular section of the airport._  
______________________________________________________________________________

Once the hangovers dissipated, and the group of friends got some food into their systems, they continued their festivities into the following evening. Before they went back to the Jones’ home for more binge drinking, the ladies decided they wanted to go out dancing. The two dressed up for the occasion. Lindsay was in a sexy red piece with black lace sleeveless peplum cocktail dress that had an open back; her hair pulled to the side elegantly. Meg was in a purple number with black bandage halter, and black patchwork eve cocktail dress that hugged her curves salaciously; her hair was curled at the bottom and hung as she always wore it.

The boys were dressed in more of a casual look, dressed in jeans and button ups. Gavin was in a gray woven shirt with pointed collar, long sleeves with single barrel cuffs and button tab detail, with an allover fleck pattern, two pockets on the front, and slim fit. Michael worn a basic solid black with buttons up the front, also a slim fit with checkered inner sleeves rolled up to his elbows. Sufficed to say, everyone looked stunning.

They danced for several hours as well as did some pre-drinking. The ladies danced close to their men, and then decided to switch up and danced sexily with each other. That gave Michael an idea for their after-party, and he held on to that thought for later. The boys sat out for a few dances, needing a rest while the ladies hit the dance floor like crazy. A couple of other guys started getting a little to frisky with the women, so Michael and Gavin grinned at each other, knowing exactly what to do to get those assholes away from the ladies. 

The two boys danced their way over to the two idiots hitting on the women, and started grinding up against them, whooping and getting a little touchy.

“Hey Gav, I think this one is super hot. What do you think?” Michael said with his best lisp as he grabbed the guy’s waist and pulled him closer.

“No way, this one is,” Gavin responded, taking hold of the other man’s shoulders and pushed closer into him.

The ladies laughed their asses off, while the two assholes stepped back, and started threatening the guys, shouting slurs at them, and pushing them away.

Michael’s voice changed, and he became stern, his voice deep and manly. “Then maybe you should stay the fuck away from our women.” He glowered hard at the men, and though he was a small man, the two assholes backed off.

“My hero,” Lindsay said, and kissed Michael sweetly on the lips. 

“Well, I wasn’t about to let those fuckers mess with you guys,” Michael hollered, still giving the stink eye to the two jerks who ran out of the club quickly.

“Let’s go back to your place now,” Meg offered. “I think I’m done here for the night.”

“Yeah, me too,” Lindsay agreed, and the four of them left.

Michael was still feeling pumped about what had happened at the club, and seemed a bit overeager to get things going once at home. In the kitchen, he got the liquor from the cupboard over the stove (like father, like son), and poured four glasses for he and his friends. 

“That’s a lot of alcohol, Michael,” Gavin mentioned, and took two glasses for him and Meg. 

Michael grabbed the other two, along with the bottle, and brought them over to Lindsay. He sat down on the floor against the couch, and set the bottle and his glass on the table. “Who’s up for a drinking contest?”

“Before we do, I’d suggest bottles of water so you don’t dehydrate and end up with hangovers again,” Meg suggested. 

“Great idea,” Lindsay said, and ran to the kitchen and grabbed an armful of bottles.

“Let’s get started then,” Michael said, and the drinking began.

The friends drank, and drank rather quickly, almost as if they were racing to see who could get shitfaced the fastest. Michael kept the drinks going though by his sixth drink, he wasn’t too eager to keep things moving.

“Let’s play truth or dare,” Michael suggested with a wily grin. “I’ll go first. Lindsay, dare or dare?”

“Wait, isn’t it truth or dare?” Lindsay asked as if she was completely unsure of how the game was played, her drunken state playing a role in her forgetfulness.

“Just pick one.”

“Okay, dare.”

“I dare you and Meg to make out right here, right now,” Michael snickered, glancing over at Gavin to gage his reaction.

The Brit seemed to be on board with the idea and started laughing wildly as if he understood what Michael was thinking. “You should do it,” he slurred.

Meg shrugged, and waited for Lindsay’s response. “I’m game.”

“Okay,” Lindsay sneered just slightly, figuring out what Michael was doing.

“And it has to be for a least a full five minutes,” Michael added, handing them both another drink. “Drink these first.”

The ladies complied and then leaned in to each other and the two started kissing.

“No wimpy kisses either,” Michael mentioned. “It has to be a full on make out session.”

Gavin giggled watching the two ladies become intimate, but intrigue overtook him and he stared intently. Michael did as well, and his jaw dropped as the two women really got into it. The two boys shared a look, knowing what the other was thinking, and started kissing as well. It could have been the alcohol, it could have been their feelings, or it could have been watching the ladies, either way, the boys couldn’t help themselves.  
______________________________________________________________________________

_Summer ended, and what was left of the group (except Ray) started their first day of college. Miles and Arryn were both attending UoT, while Michael and Gavin attended Austin Community College. Michael and Gavin decided to go to community college because they didn’t want to overdo it on the schoolwork, and made sure they would have plenty of time for each other._

_The two boys took all the same classes together, deciding only to take half time because they had plans on working as well. Speaking of work, Geoff had offered both boys a great opportunity to work at the company part-time as video editors, and gaming consultants. Since Gavin had some experience in editing, he would work doing that, while Michael, since he was so good with video games, would help out with game playing, and maybe creating some videos._

_Their first year of college was one of the best times of their lives. They were both adults, and ready to start their life together. High school was one thing, and they were more than grateful to have it since high school was where it all started, but now they were ready to take their relationship to the next level._

_They had talked about getting a place together, and had been looking around at various apartments trying to find the one that suited them; eventually, they settled on a nice one-bedroom place central to both school and work. The boys moved their stuff in as quickly as possible, mostly clothes, and even went out with Michael’s dad to pick out furniture so the place wouldn’t be so empty; a gift from Michael’s dad. They picked out a bed that fit their needs, a couch, a table for the living room, some bean bag chairs, and a couple of barstools to sit at the counter while in the kitchen. They also bought some plates, silverware, bowls, cups, and all other necessary household items._

_When they finally settled in, the remaining friends in the area were invited over for a housewarming._

_“Dude, this is awesome! How did you afford this place?” Miles asked._

_“My dad helped us out to start, but we’re responsible for everything else.”_

_“Yeah, and Geoff just gave us jobs at Rooster Teeth.”_

_“No. Fucking. Way. Dude, hook me up,” Ray burst. “I’d love to fucking work there.”_

_“Well, we could ask Geoff when we see him later. He and Griffon are coming by in a bit,” Gavin announced._

_“Sweet.”_

_“So what’re we waiting for… let’s party!”_

_The party went off without a hitch, the boys--all for the exception of Ray--and Arryn started with the drinking while Ray sat happily with his soda. They started the game playing as Geoff and Griffon arrived with even more alcohol, and more snacks._

_“The party has arrived,” Geoff announced as he and Griffon entered the apartment. “We brought more beer.”_

_“Yeah. There’s a cooler on the floor by the counter if there’s no more room in the fridge,” Michael responded._

_“Nice place, guys. It kinda reminds me of the first place Geoff and I had when we were just starting.”_

_“Thanks, Griff. I can give you a tour while I wait for my turn to play,” Gavin said, and offered her an arm, guiding her around the small apartment._

_Geoff pushed his way onto the couch and snagged the controller from Michael. “My turn.”_

_“What the fuck, Geoff,” Michael bitched, but let him do it anyway._

_“Hey, it’s your place, you can play any time. I’m a guest, so fuck off.” Geoff laughed as did everyone else in the room._

_Michael scowled, but then shoved Geoff off the couch causing even more laughter among their friends._

_“Hey, I’m your boss now, I can tell you what to do.”_

_“That doesn’t mean I have to kiss your ass, Geoff.”_

_“Yeah, it kinda does.”_

_“Geoff, are you giving the kids a hard time?” Griffon asked as she came back from the quick tour. She walked over to her husband and planted herself on her husband’s lap stealing the controller from him. “My turn.”_

_“Ha!” Michael blurted, and Geoff tackled him to the floor._

_The other boys minus Gavin all joined in, Ray on Michael’s team, and Miles on Geoff’s, and the boys wrestled while Arryn grabbed the free controller; the two ladies battled it out on the screen._

_Gavin stood by the snack bowls eating and watching the whole thing play out and laughing. The sound of his laughter caused the other guys to stop and look up at him. They exchanged looks, and all four guys went after Gavin, eliciting loud squeals and squawks from the lanky blonde._

_The party went on for hours, everyone having a great time, not only playing video games, but stupid party games as well, along with different board and card games. When the party ended around two in the morning, Ray had passed out on the couch, while the other two couples finally headed home. Michael and Gavin headed to their room, and enjoyed breaking in their new bed._  
______________________________________________________________________________

The foursome returned to work, no one really talking about the recent events at their little get-together. At work it was business as usual, each doing their respective jobs, whether it was hosting one of the many shows, doing a Let’s Play, VS, filming, editing, or something along those lines. 

Throughout the day, the boys would exchange little looks with each other, or give Lindsay a look, and she’d know right away what they were thinking. It would cause her to blush thinking about the previous night’s antics. At lunchtime, the four went out together. Once inside their restaurant of choice, they ordered quickly, and then Lindsay kept her head down.

“Okay, what’s going on, Linds?” Meg asked. She noticed the red creeping up her friend’s face.

“These two assholes have been bugging me all day with their stupid looks.”

“What? How have we been bugging you? All we’re doing is looking at you,” Gavin said.

“Yeah, babe. How were we bugging you?” Michael asked, his words dripping with sarcasm.

“‘Cause I know damn well what you two fuckers were thinking.”

“Is this about last night, Lindsay? I have to say, I had a great time last night; and might I say, you are a pretty great kisser. Probably better than Gavin.” Meg gave Lindsay a little wink.

Gavin’s mouth hung open in protest. “What?”

“What do you think, Michael? Is Lindsay a better kisser than Gavin?” Meg asked wiggling her eyebrows.

“Yeah, Michael… am I a better kisser than Gavin?”

All eyes were on Michael as the bespectacled man darted his eyes back and forth among Lindsay, Meg, and Gavin. He licked his lips then bit the bottom one as he thought about his answer. He knew Lindsay wanted to hear that she was the better kisser, but if her were being honest, he always believed it was Gavin. Then he thought, why not make it a game while still being truthful.

“Well,” Michael started, his voice showing he wasn’t really being serious. “If I had to choose just one… I suppose I’d say…” Michael’s eyes scanned Lindsay’s face, knowing she wasn’t going to like his answer. In a playful tone, he finished. “Gavin.”

Meg’s mouth fell open, and Lindsay crossed her arms and huffed, while Gavin did a stupid squeal. Lindsay’s eyes narrowed at her husband, and Michael burst into laughter.

“Hey, somebody had to give Gavin some credit here. Even his own girlfriend said he’s a bad kisser, and you know me, I got give it up for my boi.”

Meg and Gavin started laughing, but Lindsay wasn’t buying it.

“Aw, come on, Linds. You know what we should do. How about you and me hook up and leave these two idiots high and dry?” Meg suggested nudging Lindsay’s arm. “Come on, it’ll be fun.”

Lindsay’s demeanor softened and she laughed a little. “Well, you are a better kisser than Michael.”

“Oh!” Meg shouted, her arms thrown up. “What now, Michael?”

Michael playfully crossed his arms, and turned away. “You can have her,” he said with a hint of a sob. “If she thinks you’re better…” he faked a sniffle. “Then who am I to get in the way of true love.” The freckled face man stood up and faked crying into Gavin’s shoulder, who patted him on the head.

“There, there, Michael. Let it all out,” Gavin said as he ‘comforted’ his friend. “You’re boi’s got you.”

The server arrived with their food, and they ate and laughed, though deep down Lindsay wasn’t very happy. She knew the truth about how her husband felt about his friend, and thought about telling Meg the truth. 

After work, Lindsay headed home first, Michael staying behind to finish up some work with Ray. She walked into their place, and headed straight for the bedroom. The redhead riffled through her bottom dresser drawer and pulled out several thumb drives. She inserted one into her computer, and clicked on a video. On the video were two men, specifically Michael and Gavin having sex. A while back, she had convinced and paid the guy at the motel to let her set up a camera in that particular room, and to make sure the guys always got that room.

She watched the video, and at first she started fuming, angry with her husband for still cheating on her in the same filthy motel they had been for some time; but after a few minutes, she found herself aroused, and started touching herself. She finished watching that video and started another on the same drive. This continued for hours, realizing she really enjoyed watching the man she married get fucked by his former and current lover. One thing she had noticed since giving up her vendetta with her suspicions was that Michael had become a better lover to her as well.

When she heard the sound of the front door, she quickly turned off the computer and pulled out the drive, throwing them back into her drawer. She came out of the room and greeted Michael with a big silly grin, and kissed him hard.

“Hey, you seem to be in a good mood. You’re not still mad about earlier then?”

“Nah. That was stupid of me to get mad. I knew you were just fucking around, and I guess I got a little jealous.”

“But you’re better now?”

“Much better.” She kissed Michael hard again, and pulled him into the bedroom for some fun of their own.


	11. Chapter 11

_Michael and Gavin’s entire first year of community college was spent mostly working though Gavin managed to keep his grades up while Michael’s grades had slipped a little bit. Michael seemed more focused on what he was doing at his new job than worry about his grades at a community college. Gavin, on the other hand, wanted to make sure his grades were good in case he had an opportunity to go elsewhere. Of course, that wasn’t exactly something he had discussed with Michael, but they had time._

_During Thanksgiving break, the boys spent Thanksgiving Day with the Ramseys, and the following day with Michael’s dad, both boys feeling ready to explode by the weekend. When winter break arrived, their workload was cut shorter, giving them more time to spend alone._

_The second semester of their first year, Gavin decided to double up on the classes since work was going rather easy. Michael upped his time as well, going three quarter time, though he barely passing the previous semester with a C average. Gavin convinced him to take things more seriously with school, which is why he took more credits, and his grades improved somewhat._

_Things at work were great for the duo too. Gavin was getting more involved with video editing, learning new tricks to edit so the skips were less obvious. He also started being a part of fun and silly shorts the company made just for laughs. Michael’s game playing improved considerably, though, if he and Ray were to compete, Ray would probably still beat his ass. Michael even started creating his own game playing videos playing some of the lesser known, and not-so-liked games while raging out, and always threatened to turn off or stop the game midway. More often than not, he tended to finish them, even if they did piss him off._

_The boys’ first summer in their apartment together was blissful. They got some time off work, and spent almost every single day in their bedroom, getting as much use of their bed as possible. On one of their many blissful days, while they spent the day being lazy and vegging out, they received a visitor._

_“I’ll get it,” Gavin shouted as he trotted to the door. He opened it and a loud squeal escaped his lips. “Oh my god, Dan! What are you doing here?” The two Brits embraced as Gavin pulled Dan inside. “Michael! Michael, come here! I want you to meet someone.”_

_Michael stepped out of their bedroom, and looked curiously at Gavin. “What is it?”_

_Gavin ran Dan over to Michael with a big silly grin. “Michael, you remember Dan, right?”_

_“Considering you talk about him all the time, I feel like I actually know the guy. Hi, I’m Michael.” Michael offered his hand and Dan shook it._

_“Pleasure, mate. Gavin’s told me a lot about you,” Dan said with a smile._

_“Like what?” Michael asked as he pulled his hand away, his brow up curiously._

_“All good things mate,” Dan said giving Michael a wink. “Gav is always talking about how wonderful you are, in more ways than I care to know.” Dan and Michael shared a laugh as a blush crept up Gavin’s cheeks._

_“So, where are you staying? When did you get in? How come you didn’t tell me you were coming?” Gavin asked quickly._

_“I was hoping I could stay here; I just got in about an hour ago; and I wanted to surprise you.”_

_“Of course you can stay here. Ray says the couch is pretty comfortable.”_

_“So have you, after-”_

_“Michael!” Gavin squeaked._

_“What? I was just saying you think it’s comfy. God, Gav, get your head outta the fucking gutter.” Michael smirked._

_“Am I going to need ear plugs while I’m here?” Dan asked jokingly._

_“You might,” Michael answered truthfully. “I can be quite the screamer.”_

_“Michael!”_

_“What, Gavin? I’m just telling him the truth. I’m sure you’ve told him that plenty of times anyway.”_

_“Could we perhaps find a different topic?” Dan asked awkwardly._

_“I’ve got an idea,” Gavin burst. “We can take you on a tour of the office.”_

_“Then we can come back here and I can kick both your asses in some game playing.”_  
______________________________________________________________________________

Lindsay had left early to work the next morning, having some unfinished work she needed to get done before the day started, leaving Michael alone in their apartment. He got out of the shower, the steam filling the bathroom as he pulled back the shower curtain. 

“Linds, can you get me a towel? I forgot to grab a clean one.” Michael waited for Lindsay, but she never responded. “Oh fuck, she must’ve already left.” He stepped out of the shower, dripping wet, and walked to the bathroom closet, but there weren’t any clean towels in there. “Fuck.”

“Where the hell are all the clean towels?” Still dripping with water, Michael searched through each of their dresser drawers hoping to find one before having to walk through the hallway to the dryer and get even more of the floor wet. 

Michael opened the bottom drawer of Lindsay dresser, feeling around for anything feeling like terrycloth when his hand brushed across the multiple thumb drives she had hidden. “What the fuck are these? Oh god, she better not have recorded us fucking or something,” Michael joked as he set them on the top of the dresser. “And still no fucking towels. Fine…” 

He trudged to the hallway, dripping all over the carpet, knowing he’d have to set out more towels to dry the rug, which meant less towels in the closet. He pulled a warm one from the dryer and immediately dried himself, wrapping the towel in his hair so his curls wouldn’t drip even more water. He finally got dressed and dried his hair out, shaking his curls until they fell around his face. 

Michael grabbed the thumb drives on the dresser and plopped down by the computer, plugging one in, and opening it up. “What are you hiding, Lindsay?” He asked, completely joking around. He clicked on the first unnamed video, and watched for a few moments. When it dawned on him what he was watching, his jaw fell to the floor. His eyes widened in horror at the realization that Lindsay not only knew about he and Gavin, but she had evidence. He clicked on the other videos, each from a different time, but every one was of him and Gavin in a compromising position.

As much fun as it would have been to just sit and watch the videos, and maybe squeeze one out, he couldn’t enjoy what he was watching. Panic filled him as he tried to figure out both how she got these videos, and how long had she known. Not to mention the dread of how to confront her about everything which meant having to come clean. He checked all the other drives, each having a set of different videos, which meant she had known for quite a while.

Michael grabbed his phone from the charger by his side of the bed, and called Gavin. The phone rang a couple times before he heard the voice of the Brit pick up.

“Hello?”

“We are in deep shit.”

“Why? What happened? What’s going on?”

“Lindsay definitely knows about us.”

“H- How do you know? Did she say something?” Michael could hear the panicked sound in Gavin’s voice.

“Because I just found a handful of fucking geek sticks in her dresser that has…” Michael swallowed hard. “Video evidence of us um… fucking.”

“What?! She has a video of us?”

“Not just one… more like, I dunno, maybe about ten fucking videos.”

“H- H- How the hell did she get those?”

“I- I- I don’t fucking know, but I’m looking at them right now.”

“Has she said anything?” Gavin was freaking out by this point, shuffling around his living room trying to find his keys. “You don’t think she’s said anything to Meg, do you?”

“Has Meg said anything to you about it?”

“No, but… that doesn’t mean she doesn’t know.”

“Would she keep it a secret too?”

“If Lindsay asked her too, maybe.”

“Fuck, Gav. What the fuck are we gonna do?” 

“Has Lindsay said anything to you about this? Has she been suspicious again?”

“No, that’s the weird part. She’s been fucking great lately. In fact, things have, well, been really good between us. How the fuck did she get these, though? They’re from the motel we go to.”

“What are we going to do, Michael?”

“We can’t say a fucking word. She can’t know we know about these otherwise we’ll have to-”

“Have to what?”

Michael sighed. “Maybe it’s time we come clean. If she knows then… she’s been letting us do it.” 

“You don’t think, I mean, Meg seemed to enjoy us during our last party… Do you think Lindsay’s, you know, getting off on us?”

“That could fucking explain why she’s been so horny lately. What the fuck? My wife is getting off on-” Realization smacked him in the face. “She’s getting off on you fucking me.”

“Your wife is rather twisted,” Gavin said with a hint of a smirk.

“Okay, we can’t let her know we know now. We just have to play it cool, okay?”

“Yeah, cool.”

“Oh fuck, Gav, you’re totally gonna fuck this up, aren’t you?”

“What?! No-”

“Yeah you will. Goddammit, Gavin, we have _got_ to play this cool. She cannot know we know.”

“I’ll do my best, Michael, but you know I’m a terrible liar.”

“Then just keep your damn mouth shut. If she talks to you, I don’t know, run away or something.” Michael looked at the time on his phone. “Shit, I gotta go or I’ll be late. I’ll see you there. Remember, keep your shit together, and if you get there before me, don’t even make eye contact with her.”

“Wait, is she already there?”

“Yeah, she has some shit to finish up. Not a fucking word, Gavin.”

“All right, I won’t.”  
______________________________________________________________________________

_The boys took Dan out as planned, and had a great time back at their apartment playing video games, eating junk food, and getting drunk. Dan was only staying for a week, so the boys crammed in as much time with him as possible, giving him the best time of his life while visiting the US._

_Two days before Dan went back to England, Michael gave Gavin and Dan some time alone together and went to visit his dad. Gavin and Dan were sitting on the couch finishing up a movie, when Dan noticed Gavin seemed upset._

_“Hey, B, what’s up, eh?” Dan asked, turning all his attention to Gavin._

_Gavin sighed. “B, I’ve been doing an awful lot of thinking lately.”_

_“‘Bout what?”_

_“Mostly school… and a little bit of work; but mostly school.”_

_“Are you going to get to a point, or do I have to guess?”_

_Gavin chuckled. “When I started going to the community college, we both--Michael and I--we started only at half time; but I really enjoyed going, which is why I decided to go full time the second semester. My grades are good too.”_

_“So, what’s the problem?”_

_“Michael and I have this… plan where we take two years of community college then work full time at Roosterteeth.”_

_“Again, what’s the problem?”_

_“Well… I want to go further… with school. I really like it, and I think I could do better if I go off to university afterwards.”_

_“Oh. And Michael doesn’t want to do that.”_

_“Yeah. He wants us to stick to the ‘plan.’ I mean, at first it was a great plan, and I was completely on board…”_

_“But now?”_

_“But now, I want to take the next step. I’ve thought about applying to UoT since it’s not too far from here, and I could still work part time, though Michael might not be too happy about that…”_

_“And what about you, B? Shouldn’t you be happy too?”_

_“I am happy… most of the time. I mean, I love what Michael and I have, it’s absolutely wonderful, but I want more. I want to take my education so much further.”_

_“Can you get that at UoT?”_

_“To an extent, but not with what I want to do.”_

_“Gav, have you thought about maybe coming home to go to school?”_

_Gavin stood up and ran his hands through his hair. “Of course I have. It was actually my first choice… but how do I tell that to Michael? We’ve been together for over three years, and things are so great. We even got each other promise rings, and there have been talks about even eventually getting married.” Gavin showed Dan his ring, and Dan couldn’t help but smile._

_“What if Michael comes with you?”_

_“I don’t think he’ll want to. He’s so excited about working at the company full time; he loves his job.”_

_“You can’t just give up everything you want for your boyfriend, Gav. You have to think about yourself too.”_

_“I know you’re right, but I love Michael so much, and I don’t know if I can leave him like that.”_

_“If he loves you as you say he does, then he’ll understand, B. If he’s as good a bloke as you say, he’ll encourage you to do what you want, and not expect you to do what he wants.”_

_“He is a good bloke, but…”_

_“But what?”_

_“Maybe I shouldn’t do this. Our plan is a good one, and I’ll get to be here with Michael.”_

_Dan sighed, and shook his head. “Gav, will you at least do some research? I honestly think you should come home and go to university there; and if Michael doesn’t support you then perhaps you two shouldn’t be together.”_

_Gavin sat back down on the couch and covered his face with his hands sighing frustrated. “I don’t want to leave Michael, but… you might be right.”_  
______________________________________________________________________________

Michael arrived at work just before time to start, and parked his car. His phone rang just as he was getting out of the car, and he noticed it was Lindsay. 

“Hey babe,” he said trying not to sound the slightest bit nervous.

“Hey, um, are you still at the house? I totally forgot to grab my bag this morning, and I drove here without my license.”

“I’m already here, in the parking lot.”

“Fuck. I’ll have to go home later and pick it up.”

“Sorry, babe.” Michael hung up and walked into the office building, and made his way to the AH area. 

Once inside, he walked over to Lindsay and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. “Do you want me to get it for you at lunch?”

“Nah, it’s okay; I’ll get it. Besides, I’ve got a few other things I need to grab while I’m there too, and I know where to find them.”

“Okay, but don’t say I didn’t try,” Michael smiled giving her a wink then made his way to his desk.

Michael sat down and immediately looked at Gavin. He leaned in close and kept his voice down. “You haven’t done or said anything dumb yet, have you?”

“I haven’t had a chance to yet. Lindsay’s been in there all morning. I don’t think she’s even been to the bathroom.”

“I brought one of them with me.” Michael pulled out one of the thumb drives and showed Gavin. 

“Why did you bring that here?” Gavin said with a squeal a little loudly, and Michael shushed him.

“Seriously? Shut the fuck up. I brought it so you could see it. Why the fuck else would I bring it?”

“What if she finds out you have that?”

“If you keep your damn voice down, she won’t know anything. Let’s get to work before you fuck up this whole thing. Remember, keep your cool, and don’t act like yourself when Lindsay’s around; and by that I mean keep your fucking mouth shut.”

The tension in the office grew with every hour, as Gavin would shake one leg then the other, and the guys around the office started to notice, mostly Geoff and Ray. Michael would shoot him a tense look to get him to stop, which would only work for a short while before he was at it again.

Geoff was getting more annoyed with it than Michael was, and decided to pull Gavin out of the room to talk to him.

“Okay, what the fuck is going on with you? You’re acting nervous as dicks, and everyone is noticing.”

“Sorry, Geoff.”

“So what the hell is going on, Gavin?”

Gavin sighed. “Michael called me this morning and told me he found something…”

“What did he find?”

“Proof… that Lindsay knows.”

“Oh shit.” Geoff shook his head. “What are you guys gonna do? Has she said anything?”

“No, that’s the weird part of this whole thing. She hasn’t said or done anything about this. Michael says things at home are great.”

“So what’s the problem? Maybe she just doesn’t care.”

“That doesn’t make sense. Remember a few months ago when she wouldn’t let Michael out of her sight? She was only suspicious of us then.”

“Are you sure? What sort of proof did he find?”

Gavin’s instantly blushed and Geoff gave him a curious look. “Um, it’s a bit embarrassing.”

“Why? Does she have like a sex tape of you guys?”

Gavin’s eyes widened, and the red on his face deepened as he tried to hush Geoff.

“Holy shit, she does. What the fuck is wrong with you guys? You had to fucking record yourselves?”

“No, Geoff, it wasn’t like that. We didn’t do it.”

“Then how the hell did she get one?”

“I don’t know. Michael found these thumb drives with them on there.”

“Them? There’s more than one? What the fuck, dude?” Geoff’s voice cracked as it got a little louder. 

Michael stepped out the door after hearing Geoff and saw the two talking. “What’s going on?”

“You two need to fix your shit and do it quickly ‘cause it’s affecting your work,” Geoff said throwing his hands up and walking back into the office.

“What the fuck just happened?”

“Geoff sort of knows, you know, about the um, videos?”

“What?!” Michael yelled.

“Michael, not so loud. Do you want someone else to hear us?”

Michael grabbed Gavin by the arm and pulled him outside. “Jesus Christ, Gavin. What the fuck are we gonna do? We can’t exactly confront her about it, and we can’t keep pretending we don’t know, ‘cause eventually one of us--more than likely you--will give us away.”

“Probably, but you live with her. How are _you_ going to deal with this?”

“The fuck if I know.” Michael sighed defeated. “I think it’s time we tell her the truth.”


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the final chapter. This has been fun to write, but it's now over. I hope you all enjoyed it as much as I have. This is also the longest chapter, but it covers everything.

_Dan left for home and Gavin and Michael spent the weekend alone. They lied in bed watching movies, and relaxing. Michael’s head laid against Gavin’s chest, listening to his heartbeat, and smiling as he traced little lines and swirls across Gavin’s stomach, causing the Brit to squeal every once in a while. They were enjoying the time alone, but deep down, Gavin was still thinking about his conversation with Dan. He wanted to tell Michael, but he didn’t want to ruin their nice moment._

_Michael noticed Gavin’s heart beat faster, and sat up looking at his boy curiously. “You okay?”_

_“What? Yeah, why?”_

_“Well, your heart just started beating faster. Something on your mind?” Michael sat up leaning back against his pillow, and pulled Gavin to lay on his chest playing with his hair._

_“Do you want the truth?”_

_“Um, yeah, that’d be a good thing.”_

_Gavin sighed and sat up looking at Michael. “Love… I’ve been doing some thinking…”_

_“Yeah, I kinda got that. Why don’t you tell me what you’ve been thinking.”_

_Gavin took Michael’s hand and held it tight. “You know I love you, right?”_

_“Last time I checked, unless something happened between you and Dan while I was out.” Michael laughed, and Gavin laughed a little, but his face went seriously quickly. “Nothing happened with you and Dan, right?”_

_“No, of course not. It’s nothing like that.”_

_“Will you just spit it out. What the fuck have you been thinking about?”_

_“You know how we have our plan? Well, I was talking with Dan and um… he thinks I should go to a university too.”_

_“Are we really gonna talk about this shit again?”_

_“It’s not shit, Michael. I think it would be good for me to move on to a university.”_

_“What about our plan? We have it all figured out, why fuck with that? What’s wrong with what we’re doing?”_

_“I want more. I want to further my education. I was thinking I could go to UoT and we could still have the plan, but I’d only work part time.”_

_Michael got off the bed and walked away into the living room and Gavin followed._

_“So that’s it then? You’re not even going to listen to me. You’re just going to walk away and not care what I have to say. Goddammit, Michael, this is important to me-”_

_“And our fucking plan is important to me. What_ we _came up with is important to me. I thought we talked about this. Why the fuck do you wanna change things?”_

_“Because, Michael, I want a chance to be better. I want to go to university and learn more about what I love to do. I want to try, and see if I can make it.”_

_“And what about us? You go off and where does that leave us, huh? Where does that leave me?”_

_“You could come with me. I don’t even know where I want to go, but wherever I go, you could go with me.”_

_“I like my job. No, fuck that, I love my job, and I’m not ready to just walk away from it. Our ‘plan’ was to work there full time after this next year of college, what’s so fucking wrong with that? Isn’t that enough? You don’t need to learn more about something you already fucking know, Gav.”_

_Gavin wasn’t sure he wanted to fight about this anymore. He knew he wasn’t getting anywhere with Michael, and if anything, he still had the next year to try to convince him. Gavin sighed heavily._

_“Maybe you’re right. We did already make this plan, and I think it’s good. Yeah, it’s good.” Gavin didn’t sound convincing at all, but Michael seemed to ease up._

_“We made this plan together, Gav. It was something we did_ together _. What’s the point of making it if we’re not gonna follow it?”_

_“Michael…” Gavin threw up his hands in defeat. “You’re right. We made this plan together, and it’s top. I’m sorry. Can we not fight anymore?” Gavin gave a little pouty face and Michael couldn’t help but smile._

_“You’re such a fucking asshole, sometimes,” Michael said and jumped atop Gavin and kissed him hard._

_Gavin kissed back, and the boys had their fun, but in the back of his mind, all he could think about was how he would convince Michael to let him go._  
______________________________________________________________________________

Lindsay made her way home when lunchtime arrived, and ran inside the apartment. Her bag was where she had left it, on the kitchen counter, and made a mental note to grab it as she exited the apartment. Before she left, she headed into the bedroom and noticed Michael’s laptop open with a few thumb drives beside it. Upon closer inspection, her eyes went wide as she realized that the thumb drives by Michael’s computer were in fact the ones she had hidden in her bottom dresser drawer. 

“Oh shit…”

She made a beeline to the dresser and opened the drawer flinging clothes all over the floor, and saw there were no other drives in there. That was when she knew Michael was aware of what she had been doing. 

“No, no, no, no… Fuck! What the fuck was Michael doing in my drawer anyway?”

She collected the other drives and stuck them in her pocket trying to figure out how she would be able to explain the drives to Michael. 

“Fuck that. He’s the one who’s been cheating on me, I shouldn’t have to explain myself,” she said aloud to herself. She knew, however, that having the videos of her husband being fucked by his lover was still something she would have to explain.

“Maybe I should tell Meg…” Lindsay sighed and pulled out her phone, and noticed she needed to head back so she wouldn’t be late. “I’ll tell her later.” She grabbed her bag and headed back to the office.

During the drive back, all she could think about was Michael knowing she knew the truth, and wondered if she had noticed him acting differently or strangely during the first part of the day. She remembered Gavin not really looking at her, but she was so busy earlier that she really wasn’t sure if he was just letting her work. 

She parked the car and ran inside. Entering the AH office, she glanced at Michael, who was in the middle of working on editing a Rage Quit video, while Gavin was talking with Geoff about the next Minecraft Let’s Play. She scurried into her part of the office and fell against her chair getting back to work. 

Lindsay was eager to find out what Michael and Gavin knew, but first she felt like it was time to tell Meg the truth because she deserved to know what her boyfriend had been doing. She got up from her desk after a little while, and texted Meg to meet her in the kitchen.

“Hey, girl,” Meg greeted Lindsay.

“Hey. Can we go somewhere more private?” 

“Something wrong?”

Lindsay grabbed Meg by the hand and led her to a more private room. 

“Hey, what’s going on?” Meg asked.

Lindsay sighed. “There’s something you need to know, and you might not like hearing about it.”

“What is it?”

“It’s about our guys…” Lindsay bit her bottom lip thinking about how to continue. “I found out something about them and I think it’s time you find out.”

Meg laughed slightly. “Is this about them being together?”

“Wait, you know?”

“It wasn’t too difficult to figure out. I mean, there have been plenty of nights I’d wake up and Gavin wouldn’t be anywhere in the house; and then there’s the whole, ‘he’s been a better lover’ as of late. It’s the guilt. It was easy to figure out after the first few times.”

“Aren’t you pissed?”

“I kinda was at first, but Gavin’s been so wonderful lately, and the sex, whoo, damn. It’s better than ever.”

“Well, yeah, Michael’s been the same way, and fuck it’s been amazing.” Lindsay grinned at the thought as a slight shiver went right through her. “But they’ve been cheating on us.”

“I know, but at least it’s with each other and not someone else. I mean, they’ve been great with us since things started, and you have to admit, the idea of them together is really hot.”

“It really is…” Lindsay’s hand slipped into her pocket and fiddled with her thumb drives. “You have no idea…”

Meg stared at Lindsay in realization awe. “Oh my god, you’ve seen it?”

“Whaaat? No. Pfft. How would I see it?”

“You tell me.”

“Fuck. Okay, but you have to keep it to yourse- oh, what’s the point. They already know I have them.” Lindsay reached into her pocket and pulled out the thumb drives. 

Meg’s mouth hung open. “How?”

“I had their motel room bugged. I paid the guy who works the counter and he let me set it up.” Lindsay’s face went as red as her hair with embarrassment. 

“Can I see it?”

“Here…” Lindsay handed Meg the thumb drives. “But be careful. I know Michael knows, which means Gavin probably does too.”

“How did they find out?”

“He must’ve gone through my dresser after I left this morning.”

Meg couldn’t help but laugh. “You know, maybe I have a way to make this work for all of us.”

“How?”

“Why not offer a foursome? Think about it… They can still do their thing, we can watch, they can fuck us, and everyone could be happy. It’s a win-win.”

“I don’t know. What if they want us to do something?”

“I don’t have a problem with that. Do you?”

Lindsay thought about it and grinned. “No, I don’t. This could work.”  
______________________________________________________________________________

_The following year went by pretty quickly. Gavin still remained at full time status for school, while Michael went back to half time putting more time into work. Michael often wondered if Gavin was still thinking about going off to a university, though Gavin hadn’t shown any more signs of wanting to go. He tried to push it out of his mind, but it ate at him._

_Gavin had still been thinking about going to a university, but he couldn’t talk to Michael about it. It was the cause of too many fights, so he kept everything to himself. He watched the mail carefully to catch every letter of response from whichever university he had applied for. As the school year neared its end, Gavin began receiving letters of acceptance from all over the country, including one from England. He had been in contact with Dan about the letters, to which Dan encouraged him to ‘come home’ to go to school. He was really starting to consider it._

_One day, however, Gavin didn’t get to the mail in time, and Michael had gone out to get it. As he flipped through the ads and bills, he came across a letter from UoT to Gavin. He was very tempted to open it, but he didn’t, though he would ask Gavin about it when he got back to their apartment. He stepped back into the apartment, and threw the mail onto the kitchen counter._

_“Gavin, mail’s here,” Michael shouted toward the bedroom._

_Gavin emerged from the bedroom bathroom with a slight panicked look on his face. “Um, what did we get?”_

_“Oh, you know, the usual… ads, bills, a letter for you from UoT. Nothing serious. Oh, no, wait…”_

_“Michael, I can explain-”_

_“Explain what, Gav? That you weren’t planning on tell me you still wanna go to another school, or that you applied without telling me? Which is it, Gav?”_

_“You know, this isn’t fair. I have tried all year to get you to understand that this is important to me, but you never want to listen. I thought you’d be happy for me wanting to move on, but all you have been is selfish.”_

_“I’ve been selfish? How the fuck have I been selfish?”_

_“Seriously, Michael? I’ve tried to talk to you calmly about this, and you never want to hear it. Every single time I bring it up, you get angry that I’m ‘ruining the plan,’ and I feel awful. You make me feel awful for my feelings. I want to go to a university, and you can’t even support me on this. Why can’t you support me on this? If you were in my position, I would support you.”_

_“‘Cause I don’t think you need to fucking go. Gavin, this is stupid. You don’t need to fucking go to a bigger school, which costs a shit ton of money to learn something you already fucking know.”_

_“But I_ want _to go. I want to learn so much more than I already know.”_

_“I can’t fucking believe we’re having this conversation again.”_

_Gavin shook his head in disbelief. “You know,” Gavin started calmly. “I thought about going to UoT because it was close to home, close to work, and close to you. I wouldn’t have to leave Texas, and I could still do what I wanted.” Gavin breathed in deeply. “But I don’t think I can do that anymore.”_

_“What are you saying?”_

_“Michael, I love you, and I always will, but… I don’t know if we can work anymore. In a relationship, people are supposed to support the ones they love, not hurt them by tearing down their dreams.”_

_“Isn’t that what you’re doing with me?” Michael asked bitterly._

_“I’ve given you everything, including my support on your plan, and all I wanted was a little in return. I thought we could modify the plan just a bit, so I could still go to school, and we’d both still be working, and we’d be here together, and everything would be top; but you didn’t want to hear it. You think what I want to do is stupid. You think what_ I want _is stupid.”_

_“Are you leaving me?” Michael asked sadly but angrily._

_“I didn’t want to, but um… I’ve looked into a university in England-”_

_“Wait, what? In England? What the fuck? When were you gonna tell me about_ that _?”_

_“Probably never, considering how you’re reacting right now.”_

_“That’s not fair, Gavin. You didn’t even give me a chance with this one.”_

_“Fair? Michael… never mind.”_

_“No, say it!”_

_“You have a lot of nerve to talk about ‘fair.’ Do you think you’ve been fair?” Gavin was on the verge of tears as this conversation was breaking his heart. “All I wanted to do was go to school, but_ you _tried to keep me from going. You didn’t want me to do something_ I _wanted to do, and you made me feel like absolute shit for wanting something of my own. If you don’t think this is fair then… I’m sorry. I can’t keep doing this.”_

_Michael held back his tears, not wanting Gavin to see his heart break, and bit his inside cheek to keep him from crying. “Fine. Just go. Just fucking go! Go back to England, and don’t bother ever coming back!” Michael huffed into the bedroom and slammed the door. Inside, he slid down to the floor and let himself break down, so angry yet so hurt and sad that he was losing Gavin. He knew it was his fault for trying to keep him there, but he never wanted to lose his love, and thought the best way to do that was to keep him locked away from the rest of the world._

_Gavin sunk down into the couch and cried as well. He didn’t want it to end the way it did. He had truly hoped Michael would be more understanding, and even supportive of his decision, and he probably would have stayed in Texas. However, Michael only made things more difficult and Gavin knew he had to leave him. It killed him to think he and the love of his life were ending, and he wanted to run into the bedroom and take Michael into his arms and tell him he wasn’t going to leave; but he had to, for himself, and for his sanity._

_Gavin slept on the couch that night, and was rudely awakened by the sound of the front door slamming shut the following morning. He rubbed his eyes and saw that Michael’s shoes were gone. He got off the couch and stretched, feeling a little sore, but pushed through it. He took a quick shower then stood in the middle of their bedroom and just looked around. Michael obviously got angry enough to throw things, and there was broken glass from pictures all over the floor, as well as some other items that had been broken._

_The Brit sighed heavily, and grabbed his suitcase from the closet, and started packing. He wasn’t sure he could face Michael again, and knew he had to leave as soon as possible. If he saw Michael again, he would probably change his mind and beg for forgiveness. No, Gavin had to stand his ground. He finished packing and Michael still hadn’t returned, so he called Geoff._

_“Hey, bud. How’s it going?”_

_“I did it. I broke up with Michael. I told him I decided I wanted to go to England.”_

_“How’d he take it?”_

_“As I had expected… not well. He was so angry, and-” Gavin tried not to cry over the phone, but his tears flowed anyway. “Geoff, I don’t want to lose him, but I think I have.”_

_“I’m sorry, kid. I could talk to him if you want.”_

_“No… I’ll give him some time to deal with this, and then I’ll call him from England. After he’s calmed down it’ll be easier to talk to him. Can I stay with you until I can catch my flight?”_

_“Yeah, sure.”_

_“Thanks…” Gavin closed up his suitcase, and filled another smaller bag with personal items. He removed the pictures from their broken frames, and put a couple of them into his bag, leaving the others on the dresser. “I’ve got to go. I’ll see you soon.”_

_Gavin hung up the phone, and took a deep breath staring at a picture of Michael. “I’m going to miss you so much… I hope you know that I love you very much, and this was a very hard decision for me to make, but I have to do it. I have to try to see if I can do this. I just wish you could understand…”_

_Michael stepped into the room and closed the door behind him. “Gav…” he said quietly._

_“Michael. What- I mean, you’re here. I didn’t expect to see you…”_

_“Yeah, I wasn’t gonna- what I mean is I… I’m sorry. You’re right, I’m a selfish prick, and I couldn’t let you go, not even to somewhere close. I wanted you all to myself ‘cause that’s what I’ve been so used to having, and- I love you, Gav. I don’t want you to go.” Michael wiped his eyes, and sniffled._

_“I have to do this, Michael. I don’t want to go either, but I need to do this. Please understand that this isn’t because I don’t want to be with you, but-”_

_“I get it. I don’t like it, but I get it. You better fucking call me like, every day, and tell me all about what school is like over there.”_

_“I promise…”_

_The boys hugged each other tightly, almost unable to let go, but finally Gavin pulled away._

_“I have to get to the airport or I might miss my flight. Geoff’s going to take me over there…” Gavin lied, but knew it would be the easiest way to go._

_“Yeah, no. You should go. I need to clean this mess up anyway.” Michael hugged Gavin once more then smiled a really small smile at him. “Good luck.”_

_“Thanks. You too. Don’t give Geoff too hard a time, all right? But keep him on his toes.”_

_“I will. Go. I don’t wanna see your stupid face anymore; at least not ‘til you get to England. Send me pics, okay?”_

_“I will. Goodbye, Michael.”_

_They shared one more heartfelt tearful hug then Gavin left leaving Michael completely alone in their once shared apartment. Gavin arrived safely in England and got himself settled in at his new school. His classes were everything he hoped for and more._

_Michael kept going to the community college, if anything to keep that feeling of Gavin around for a little while longer. He was hurting though, but kept it hidden underneath his bitterness. Time passed, and the boys stayed in touch, but it was becoming increasingly painful to talk to each other without wanting to break down and cry._

_Michael found other things to occupy his time, still keeping in contact with Gavin, but at a lesser rate. He eventually transferred to UoT where he met a nice young woman with fiery red hair who reminded him an awful lot of Gavin. They became instant friends, and eventually started dating. It was never quite the same, but Lindsay really helped him through one of the roughest times in his life, and he was always grateful for that. She had saved him from heartache._  
______________________________________________________________________________

At the end of the workday, which was a long one, everyone in the office let out a huge collective sigh of relief. Michael and Gavin had remained too busy to think about let alone discuss the thumb drive in Michael’s pocket, and Lindsay was too occupied with all of her tasks; but now the day had ended, and everything that hung over their heads was about to come to fruition. 

Geoff made the call, and everyone packed up and turned off all game consoles, monitors, and any other electronics. “Go home. I don’t wanna see your ugly mugs until Monday.”

Lindsay stepped out of the other part of the office, and for the first time all day, she and Gavin made eye contact, and Gavin turned away quickly, his face flushed. She turned her eyes down until she literally bumped into her husband. 

“Oh, hey…” Lindsay said not really looking at Michael. 

“Hey… It’s been a pretty busy day, huh?”

“Yeah…”

Everyone in the room could see the awkwardness between the two, as they all exchanged looks with each other. Gavin slipped out of the room only to be greeted by his girlfriend.

“Hey you,” Meg said with a smile.

Gavin breathed a sigh of relief. “Hey. How was your day?”

“Good, actually. Long, but good. How was yours?”

“Busy. We had a lot of work to do today.” Gavin gave Meg a quick kiss and a smile. “But now we can go home and relax.”

Michael and Lindsay stepped out of the office, still having trouble looking at each other and saw the other two.

“Hey guys,” Lindsay said her eyes fixed on Meg.

“Hey you two. So, I was thinking the four of us should go get dinner and bevs,” Meg said with a smirk. 

“Uh, I’m really tired,” Michael said.

“Oh, come on, it’ll be fun. Trust me. I have a great idea for all of us,” Meg said looking directly at Lindsay.

“Yeah…” Lindsay said. “Let’s go out. It’ll be fun.”

“Fine, but let’s not stay out too late. I really am tired.”

“So am I,” Gavin added, looking at Michael.

“Come on, boys. I guarantee tonight will be amazing,” Meg said.

With reluctance, the boys agreed, and the group of friends went out for the evening. Dinner was awkward to say the least; neither boy, nor Lindsay, could really look at each other only keeping their eyes on their food. Meg was laughing internally as she knew exactly what was going through their heads. There was a sense of excitement running through her, as she couldn’t wait until the truth was finally revealed.

After dinner, Meg suggested instead of going out for drinks that they go back to Meg and Gavin’s for a little party. In the Joneses car, neither of them could look let alone speak to each other, and the drive over was intense. Lindsay parked the car and they both sat there neither one ready to move.

Lindsay finally broke the silence, though quietly. “Um… so… busy day, huh?”

“Yeah… lots of shit to get done.”

There was silence again, neither sure of what to say next. This time Michael broke the silence.

“So um… you know about-” Before he could finish, Meg knocked on the driver’s side window, and both jumped.

“You guys coming in, or not?”

They exited the car and all entered the house. Meg and Gavin brought out the alcohol, and they gathered in the living room. Gavin offered to make everyone drinks while Meg got everyone started with some shots. The air was too tense so something needed to be done to lighten the mood.

“Drink up, guys,” Meg said raising her glass to Michael and Lindsay. They all took a shot, and Meg refilled their glasses. A couple more shots were thrown just as Gavin returned with four mixed drinks and dispersed them among the friends.

Michael and Lindsay both seemed to down their drinks rather quickly trying to will the tension away and have fun with their friends. Gavin drank his pretty fast too hoping the alcohol would create a better atmosphere. 

As the night went on, the awkwardness dissipated, and the group was finally talking and laughing, having a great time. The sword of Damocles still hung over their heads, and was about to fall and become the main topic of the night, but at the moment, they were enjoying themselves.

About two hours into their binge, Meg gave Lindsay a look, which meant it was time to come out with the truth. Lindsay set down her drink and cleared her throat, looking between her husband and her friend. 

“Guys… I’ve got something I need to tell you.”

“What is it, Linds?” Michael asked though a feeling a dread suddenly washed over him.

“I have a confession to make. I-” Lindsay took a deep breath, blowing out the air hard. “I um…”

“Linds, I have something I need to tell you too,” Michael interrupted. He glanced at Gavin who gave him a gentle nod of approval. “Meg, you need to hear this too.”

“This isn’t just Michael’s secret to tell,” Gavin added.

“So we’re really gonna do this…?” Michael asked looked at Gavin.

“I think after today, the truth needs to come out,” Gavin said.

“So, who wants to go first?” Meg asked.

“I think we should,” Michael said. “I know it ties in with what Lindsay has to say.” He looked at Lindsay for what felt like the first time all day. Michael took a deep breath exhaling slowly. “Okay, so um, the truth is…” Michael bit his bottom lip and closed his eyes. “Gavin and I have been…”

“We’ve been secretly seeing each other,” Gavin finished. “More than just seeing… we’ve-”

“We’ve been fucking,” Michael stated. “And we’ve been cheating on you two.” Michael pulled out the thumb drive he had in his pocket. “I found this this morning in your drawer, completely by accident--I was looking for a clean towel--and I know this is part of what you’re about to say.”

“Michael I-” Lindsay sighed hard. “I found out about you guys the night you stayed late a while back. I came back to convince you to come home with me, and overheard the two of you talking. I later followed you to the motel and saw you through the small crack in the curtain. After that, I paid the clerk to let me set up a camera in that room and to make sure you guys always got put into that room.”

“Wow… um… not really sure what to say about that,” Michael said. “I guess I really don’t have much room to talk, but… fuck…”

“Meg, I’m so sorry about this,” Gavin said.

Meg shook her head. “Don’t be. I mean, I’ve known for a while too.”

“What? When did you find out?”

“Not sure exactly when, but I figured it out when I noticed you were acting differently. Well, that and waking up in the middle of the night and finding you not home. It wasn’t too difficult to figure out.”

“Are you angry?”

“I was… at first, but now, I mean, it’s… like I told Lindsay today, you two together are really hot, and the thought of you two fucking…” Meg fanned herself with a hand. “Whoo, damn. Like that night you two made out, I was ready to jump you right then and there.”

“What about you, Linds? How do you feel about all this? Are you pissed?” Michael asked.

“I don’t know. I know I should be, and I was for a while, but… Meg makes a good point, and since I started saving these vids, I- I realized I really enjoy watching the two of you together.”

“I’m not sure whether I should be happy about that or disgusted,” Michael said. “But I do know I need another fucking drink.” He snagged the bottle from the table, poured himself a couple shots, and downed them. “Okay… so all this shit is now out in the open, so what do we do now?”

“How long have you guys been fucking? How long before I found out were you guys fucking?” Lindsay asked.

Michael and Gavin looked at each other then back at Lindsay. “I don’t know, probably been fucking about a year give or take; which means you probably found out about three or four months in,” Michael answered.

“A year, wow… Okay… And in that time did you guys ever think about what would happen if someone found out?”

“All the fucking time.”

“But you still did it anyway…”

“Yeah… yeah we did.”

“Why?”

“Truthfully… ‘cause we never got over each other. Right, Gav?”

Gavin shook his head. “That’s why we did what we did.”

“Are you still in love with him?” Lindsay asked both boys.

“It’s complicated,” Michael answered first. “Our feelings for each other never went away, they just got pushed aside.”

“What about us?”

“That’s why it’s complicated.”

“What about you, Gavin?” Meg asked. “Are you still in love with Michael?”

“Is it possible to be in love with two people at once? Because that’s how I feel,” Gavin responded.

“Does that go for you too, Michael?” Lindsay asked.

Michael nodded. “Yeah. That’s exactly how I feel. Are you okay with that?”

“Well, I can’t tell you how to feel… truth is, I like the idea of you two together, and I really like watching the vids, so… I guess I’m okay with it.”

Meg clapped her hands and the tension seemed to fall away for a moment as everyone was startled with the sudden sound. “Okay, then I’ve got an idea that I think will be good for all of us. I propose that the four of us…” she paused as all eyes fixated on her, waiting with bated breath to hear her suggestion.

“I think we should have a foursome.”

“Wait, seriously?” Michael asked.

“Yeah. Look, Lindsay and I like seeing you guys together, and we already talked about how we would be okay being together, and-”

“Wait, what? You and Lindsay have already talked about this?” Michael asked.

“Yeah, earlier today, but that’s not important. Look, you two want still wanna fuck, right?”

“Well, um, yeah.”

“Okay, and we wanna watch--don’t judge--so why not let all of us be satisfied, while we have a little fun.”

“You’re serious?” Gavin asked.

“Very. So, what do you guys say? We take our relationships to the next level? No more secrets, no more hiding.”

“So, you’re saying that if we agree to this, Gavin and I have to stop what we’re doing.”

“I’m saying that instead of just the two of you behind our backs, that anytime you two feel the need to be together, we do it all together. That way no one is left out, and no one feels like they’re cheating. It’s a win-win for all of us.”

“ _And_ if you feel the need to fuck, tell us, don’t just keep it to yourselves,” Lindsay added.

The boys looked at each other and nodded. 

“I think we can do that,” Gavin said with a smile. 

“I’m down; but I have a question. Okay, so if we want to fuck, just Gav and me, we just have to tell you, but does that mean you’ll always be joining us?” Michael asked Lindsay.

“I think what we’re getting at is if you two wanna fuck, we’d prefer it if you told us and not kept it a secret.” Lindsay looked at Meg.

“We probably won’t always join you guys, but let us know anyway, okay?”

“So, basically, you guys are giving us permission to fuck whenever we want as long as we tell you, and sometimes you might join,” Michael affirmed.

The two women nodded.

“Yeah, pretty much,” Meg said.

“This is not at all how I pictured this conversation would go,” Michael admitted. “I thought I’d be packing or something tonight, and I was gonna lose you, Linds.”

“Well, consider yourself a lucky man, Michael Jones. You’re getting what you want, and you get to keep what you have.” Lindsay smiled to show she was no longer angry about the situation. “Just promise me something…”

“Name it, babe.”

“Promise me that, if for any reason you’d rather be with just Gavin and not me that you’d tell me.”

Michael took Lindsay’s hand. “I love you, Linds, and I can’t see my life without you, ever.”

“I don’t know about you guys, but all this talk about a foursome has got me hot and bothered,” Meg revealed. “How about we get started on our new relationship?”

The rest of the friends looked at each other in agreement, grinning excitedly. They made their way to Gavin and Meg’s bedroom, and their new relationship began. 

From that day on, the two couple’s relationships only moved forward, beginning an open relationship, and they were happier than they ever were as just two separate couples.

**Author's Note:**

> It's short, I know, but I split the chapters into 4 sections (2 past, 2 present) to give it more chapters. Some will be longer than others. PS, I don't condone cheating, but I felt I needed to write this.


End file.
